Last weekâs freeze-thaw cycles meant that maple sap started to run. Below, we provide several ways that local parks will help you tap your own trees and make syrup.
Did you know that you can make a spile (the little device that drains the sap) from a staghorn sumac branch? Or buy one locally for a buck?
The popular Sugar Camp Days at Bendix Woods County Park in New Carlisle isnât happening this year, as officials say the pandemic didnât allow the months of planning that it needed. But we ll share some of the limited events and tours that are going on in the area in next week s Outdoor Adventures column in The Tribune.
A few red-winged blackbirds and a flock or two of sandhill cranes arrived over the weekend. Maple sap was running. Like usual for the start of March.
But it still isnât a usual winter for ski resorts. If it were, the downhill season at Swiss Valley Ski & Snowboard Area in Jones would toast its finale this Sunday â typically a week into March. Instead, spokesman Mike Panich says the resort has booked its âSlush Cupâ contest (a sort of farewell party) for March 14 with the option of staying open even longer if the weather permits and visitors keep coming.
Snowmelt or not, the resort recently looked more like it was ramping up operations, not chilling out, stoked by the momentum from a super-busy season when weekend ski rentals often ran out. Jamie Stafne, who oversees operations, says this seasonâs attendance will surely âblow the record for the past two decades.â