After welcoming members to the 2nd LAGC Meeting of the year, President Nancy posed a few new questions for members to respond to: What does a gardener do in February? Have you made a map of your garden? Have you purchased plants or seeds? Members responded that they have made a map of their garden, but that it is everchanging. Some members have already started purchasing seeds for their 2025 garden. Bill Goff suggested that Select Seeds is a good resource for seeds.
Most of the membership t-shirts have been distributed. Contact Helen Dean if you haven’t received yours to make arrangements for pickup.
Mary Jo Clayton talked about our 75th Anniversary Tree Planting Service Project which is scheduled for Friday, April 11th from 3:00pm to 6:00 p.m. at the Horse Arena in North Park. Parking is available at the location. All the tools will be provided. It’s suggested that you bring your own gloves. Please wear your new LAGC t-shirt. The event will occur regardless of the weather so please be sure to dress appropriately. The North Park Rangers will provide a tutorial to show how to plant the trees. Members are encouraged to bring kids and grandkids to participate in the planting process. Drinking water will be available for participants. The idea of having snacks and a reception post-planting was vetoed. We will be planting a total of 75 trees and the varieties are Red Maple, Sugar Maple, Black Birch, Shagbark Hickory, Eastern Redbud, Witch Hazel, Hophornbeam, White Pine, Chokecherry and Chestnut Oak.
Treasurer Denny gave a quick update about the LAGC budget. We had approximately $6,100 at the start of January. Denny made payments in the amount of $2,500 which covers some of the 75th Anniversary expenses, the hall rental fee for Northmont Church and the paver for Northland Public Library. The current balance is $3,500.
Publicity Coordinator Claudia discussed the fact that we promote our programs to notify the public of LAGC activities, but we don’t do any post publicity. Members are encouraged to send photos that you have taken to Anita. She will post them on the Facebook page to show what we do at our meetings and programs. Also, please remember to share our Facebook notifications with your Facebook friends.
Vice president Marlow talked about the proposal to have the 2025 annual holiday tour at Phipps Conservatory which will be decorated for Christmas. Members have questions about whether the tour will have a guide to show us behind the scenes area of the greenhouses or if it will be self-guided to see the Christmas displays. Also, what will be the cost - for those that have memberships, senior rates, holiday rates. Marlow will do some more research to get answers to these questions and other details. Lunch options were not discussed. Please contact Marlow if you have any suggestions.
The Penn State Master Garden Symposium will be held on Saturday, April 26th at the Hampton Community Center. LAGC members voted to be a “Friend” of PSMG and will donate $100 to have our club name printed in the publicity information.
Hostesses: Nancy brought a beautiful vase arrangement from McCandless Floral and added her white orchid and a purple orchid which were in bloom. Amy delighted us with brownies, bananabread and nut mixture. Ladies, we thank you for providing a beautiful table and refreshments!
Program – Maple Sugaring by Chris Kubiak
Chris Kubiak, Director of Education at the Audubon Society of Western PA returned to give another informative presentation to LAGC. His talk, titled “Tapping through Time: Science and History of Making Maple Sugar “enlightened us about the history and production of one of Pennsylvania's unique food items: Maple syrup and sugar.
Chris explained that there are two critical elements that are necessary to tap delicious sap. Pennsylvania has both of them: Maple trees and the correct temperatures. There are many different varieties of maple trees which produce sap but, Sugar Maples are the best for tapping because of the quantity and quality of the sap they produce. Sugar Maples produce the sweetest sap.
One can usually identify a maple tree by the shape of its leaves in spring and summer. In the winter and early spring one can identify the tree by opposite branching buds, leaf scars and the trident shaped bud end.
Generally, the maple tapping season lasts from mid-February to early April. For the best sap production the optimal temperature should be about 40° during the day and 32°at night. When the tree buds begin to flower, it signals the end of the maple tapping season.
Our speaker explained that a woodpecker named the yellow-bellied sap sucker was probably the first to discover maple sap. These woodpeckers make distinctive holes in maple trees to extract the sap. Native Americans noticed these holes and discovered that the sap was edible.
They enjoyed the delicious sap and wanted to find a way to preserve it because the sap is only available for a few months of the year. They decided to cook it over fire to concentrate it into a maple syrup, and then cooked it further to remove all of the water until it becomes maple sugar.
The maple sugar was then pressed into wooden molds. The Native Americans were able to store the finished product for their own use or traded it for other goods that the tribe needed. American pioneers learned the process from native Americans.
Hopefully, maple sugar and syrup production will continue for many years in Pennsylvania but, Chris has already seen a decline in the number of sugar tapping businesses. There's concern that climate change is affecting sap production because the key elements, maple trees and optimal temperatures are being changed. The Spring season is coming earlier and hotter.
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