Maple Syrup: An Introduction to the Science of a Forest Treasure

Rechlin, Mike

ISBN 10: 193577834X / ISBN 13: 9781935778349

Published by McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, US, 2016

About this Item

Inscribed "Mike West Seneca High 1986". An accessible, engaging exploration of the biology, chemistry, and physics behind producing maple syrup. Written for a broad audience?including hobbyists, naturalists, educators, and backyard producers?the book demystifies how a deciduous forest resource is transformed into a prized culinary treat. Rechlin's book is one of the few high-quality, beautifully illustrated (by Nancy Boyer-Rechlin) trade paperbacks that treats the craft as a rigorous science while remaining highly readable. Rechlin is a pioneer of community forestry, a radical academic innovator, and a driver of sustainable rural economic development. His biography marks a historic pivot away from top-down government timber exploitation. He reshaped university curricula to teach that the best way to save a forest is to empower local villagers to manage, protect, and economically benefit from it themselves.

Seller Inventory # SKU2020028732

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Maple Syrup: An Introduction to the Science of a Forest Treasure
• Publisher: McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, US
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 193577834X
• ISBN 13: 9781935778349
• Binding: Softcover
• Condition: Like New
• Weight: 10 ounces
• Signed: Signed by Author
• Seller catalogs:
  • Homesteading

About this title

Synopsis

Maple Syrup takes the reader through the what, where, when, and why of maple sap and its conversion to maple syrup, that all-so-appreciated product of the North American deciduous forest. The journey begins with an introduction to trees, primarily maple trees, and especially sugar maple trees: where they occur, how they function, and particularly how they produce and deliver the sap from which the syrup is made. From there, the reader travels through the actual collection and management of the sap, the conversion of the sap to syrup, and the longer-term planning for and management of expanding and future sugarbush operations. Due attention also is paid to the history of human collection of sap and its conversion into syrup and sugar, ranging from its harvest by Native Americans through to the modern, and still evolving, tastes and methods of harvest and production. Written for the broad audience, Maple Syrup will be an accessible, enlightening, and enjoyable exploration of the science and history of a treasured natural resource.

About the Author

Mike Rechlin is a forestry and ecology educator with resource management degrees from Paul Smith s College (AAS), the University of Michigan (BS, MS), and SUNY-College of Environmental Science and Forestry (PhD). He taught his first class in sugaring while a graduate student at the University of Michigan. Later, he served on the faculty and as department head at Paul Smith s College in New York and at Principia College in Illinois, where he taught courses in sugaring and helped manage the college s sugar bush operations. Today, Mike and his wife, Nancy, make West Virginia their home base and spend summers in the Adirondacks. Mike also works internationally in the field of community forestry.