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Brian Longo grew up in concrete and asphalt in New York City, fascinated by nature and the idea of using the food at hand.
Longo said he remembers going to California as a kid and seeing orange trees on the boulevard, and people stopped to choose fruit.
“I think that’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Using public land for something people can use. It makes a lot of sense to me.”
So when he moved to Central Halifax last year and found a maple tree next to the street in front of his home, another one was behind him, he was determined to produce maple syrup from them.
Since this was his first time, Longo turned to “Google School” for tricks, and by the end of February there was a plastic bucket with a hose hanging from two trees.
Over about a month, he collected 113 liters of SAP and boiled it using an outdoor propane tank. His efforts resulted in about two liters of maple syrup.
“The maple syrup on the pancakes is probably one of my favorite things. So, to be able to be the actual maple syrup produced here, I think it’s really neat.”
Lango said the tree he dug in front of his home was on municipal property, and he searched online in advance to see if there were any statutes against knocking it, but he found nothing specific. And, he thinks, it doesn’t matter since he sees other people using narrow land between the sidewalks and streets.
Technically, not.
Articles of association oppose tree damage
Crispin Wood is urban forestry manager in Halifax. He said the city’s tree charter prohibits activities related to excavating municipal-owned trees.
“It’s a saying that it’s a tree,” Wood said. “If you drill a hole in a tree, you might expose the tree to a pathogen and allow fungi to enter the tree, which can infect the tree and eventually lead to the tree’s failure.”
He said trees planted between sidewalks and roads are already under pressure, such as poor soil conditions, salt on roads and coasts, pollution and heat from asphalt in summer.
“So, you know, drilling holes and draining the juice from a municipal tree is what we might end up supporting because it’s negative to the tree.”
Wood said the municipality may not have more than 100 sugar maples on public land, but the city is trying new varieties to see if they survive better.
Very few sugar maple in the city
Peter Duinker created the Halifax Tree project, which was researched and educated to manage urban trees sustainably.
He said that since there are very few sugar maple syrups in the city, he questioned whether Longo actually dug out sugar maple or whether it was another type of maple tree.
He agreed that digging streets “may not be a wise thing”, but said that in other areas (such as parks (such as parks), it would be fun to dig municipal trees in other areas as a demonstration project. He suggested that the proceeds from syrup could be used in charities.
In other jurisdictions, groups encourage cities to add sugar by renting or selling kits to people with maple trees on their properties.
Duinker supports growing more sugar maples in cities because they have strong wood and don’t grow as fast as other types of trees, meaning they don’t grow into power lines quickly. He added that there are many places to grow sugar maple outside the narrow turf on the street.
However, he admits that he has some bias towards sugar maple.
“If I had to name a species I like, it’s Eastern white cedar or sugar maple. I think I have maple juice in my veins.”
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