Most of us have had the privilege of eating pancakes or waffles drenched in maple syrup for breakfast, but how many of us stop to think about where it comes from? Financial service officer Nichole Olson had the opportunity to attend a fieldtrip with her daughter's class to L.H Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve, a preserve in the Brown County Wisconsin Park system, to witness how maple syrup gets from the tree to your breakfast plate.
During the field trip in March, Nichole and her daughter enjoyed a tour through the woods where they learned about different types of trees and each student had the opportunity to place a tap into the tree and begin the maple syrup process. The demonstration also included viewing the different tools and bags used for maple syrup collection.
Nichole Olson's daughter learning how to tap a tree for maple syrup
L.H Barkhausen collected 757 gallons of sap during their 2022 maple syrup season. The collected 757 gallons of sap made over 19 gallons of fresh syrup.
After learning how to collect the sap, students were able to tour the cooking room and experience the syrup process from start to finish. Of course, the best part of the tour was tasting the finished product!. Students enjoyed ice-cream with the fresh syrup on top.
“I would definitely do this trip again, I think it’s a really educational and eye-opening experience for the students to learn Wisconsin history and the whole process of maple syrup,” Nichole said.
Nichole also benefited from the tour; she works with multiple customers in the maple syrup industry. Knowing the process from start to finish helps Nichole better understand what her customers are going through. “Seeing the whole process really opens my eyes to how maple syrup works. Now I can see and understand a little bit of what my customers are going through even through,” Nichole explained.
GreenStone strongly encourages all employees to participate in activities to expand their knowledge. Nichole can now better serve her maple syrup customers from the knowledge obtained while attending a fun field trip with her daughter. For more examples on how our employees are learning through events in the community, visit Open Fields Blog | GreenStone FCS. To learn more about L.H Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve and their upcoming events visit their Facebook page.
