Urban sugaring a success for one Haligonian, but city not so sweet on idea

Frances Willick · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 13, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Growing up among the factual and asphalt of New York City, Brian Longo was fascinated by nature and the thought of utilizing the quality astatine manus to nutrient food.

Longo says he remembers travelling to California arsenic a kid, seeing orangish trees connected a boulevard and radical stopping their cars to spell prime the fruit.

"I thought that was 1 of the champion things I've ever seen," he said. "Using nationalist onshore for thing that people tin use. It conscionable makes consciousness to me."

So erstwhile helium moved to cardinal Halifax past twelvemonth and spotted a maple histrion adjacent to the thoroughfare successful beforehand of his home and different successful the back, helium was determined to nutrient maple syrup from them.

Since it was his archetypal time, Longo turned to the "school of Google" for tips, and by the extremity of February had a integrative bucket and hoses hooked up to some trees.

Over the people of astir a month, he collected 113 litres of sap, which helium boiled down using an outdoor propane tank. His efforts resulted successful astir 2 litres of maple syrup.

"Maple syrup connected pancakes are astir apt 1 of my favourite things successful the world. So to beryllium capable to person existent maple syrup that I produced here, I deliberation is really neat."

Longo said the histrion helium tapped successful beforehand of his location is connected municipal property, and helium searched online beforehand to spot if determination were immoderate bylaws against tapping it, but helium didn't find thing circumstantial astir that. And, helium figured that since he's seen different radical usage the constrictive portion of onshore betwixt the sidewalk and the thoroughfare for gardens, it would beryllium OK.

Technically, it's not.

Bylaw against damaging trees

Crispin Wood is the Halifax Regional Municipality's manager of municipality forestry. He said the city's histrion bylaw prohibits activities associated with tapping municipally owned trees.

"It is arguably detrimental to a tree," Wood said. "If you're drilling a spread successful a tree, you are perchance exposing that histrion to pathogens and allowing fungus to participate the tree, which could infect the histrion and eventually cause histrion failure."

He said trees planted betwixt the sidewalk and road already look stressors, specified arsenic mediocre ungraded conditions, brackish from the roadworthy and the coast, contamination and vigor from the asphalt successful the summer.

"So, you know, drilling holes and draining sap from a municipal histrion is not thing we would apt enactment conscionable yet due to the fact that it's a antagonistic to a tree."

Wood said determination are astir apt nary much than 100 sweetener maples connected nationalist onshore successful the municipality, but the metropolis is experimenting with newer cultivars of them to spot if they past better.

Few sweetener maples successful city

Peter Duinker created the Halifax Tree Project, which conducts research and acquisition with the extremity of managing municipality trees sustainably.

He said since determination are truthful fewer sweetener maples successful the city, helium questions whether Longo really tapped a sweetener maple oregon if it is different benignant of maple tree.

He agreed that tapping thoroughfare trees "may not beryllium a sensible happening to do," but said it would beryllium amusive to person a knowledgeable idiosyncratic pat municipal trees successful different areas, specified arsenic parks, arsenic a objection project. He suggested the proceeds of the syrup could spell toward a charity.

In different jurisdictions, groups person encouraged municipality sugaring by renting oregon selling kits to radical with maple trees connected their ain properties.

Duinker supports planting more sugar maples successful the metropolis due to the fact that they person beardown wood and don't turn arsenic rapidly arsenic other types of trees, which means they wouldn't turn into powerfulness lines quickly. He added that there are plentifulness of places to works sweetener maples extracurricular of the constrictive portion of writer on streets.

But, helium admitted, he's a spot biased toward sweetener maples.

"If I had to sanction a favourite species, it's either eastbound achromatic cedar oregon sweetener maple. I deliberation I person maple sap in my veins."