Ossining's Teatown: Tap, Tap, Tapping those Trees!

It's that time again...when all around Teatown, the educators are busy hanging buckets on the trees. Why? Because it's sugaring time! A few years ago, I shadowed some of the educators as they drilled the trees and hung the buckets to collect the sap. In all, they hang over 100 buckets and do the hard labor of collecting all that sap every few days. Then, it's time to boil it down. Amazingingly, it takes about 40-60 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup!

If you're curious about how they boil it down and the specifics of tapping a tree, come to Teatown for Sugaring Sundays on March 4 and March 11. One hour tours begin at 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm and Teatown's educators will walk you through the whole process of sap to syrup.

All of this syrup-making culminates in Teatown's Annual Pancake Brunch on Saturday, March 17. A delicious way to start the day, the Pancake Brunch is an all-you-can-eat affair with mouth-watering pancakes (in several varieties), sausage, bacon and steaming hot coffee. Seatings are at 8:30am, 9:45am, 11:00am and 12:45pm. Prices are: Adults $10 members/$12 nonmembers and Children under 12 are $5 members/$7 nonmembers.

Teatown Lake Reservation is located at 1600 Spring Valley Road, Ossining, NY 10562. Visit us anytime on the web at www.teatown.org or call 914-762-2912 x110.