Budding Experts is our student-led interview series highlighting young people and the fun things they learn about during our programs. At Camp Fire, students learn about outdoor activities, art, STEM, and the environment from trained specialists and instructors.

It’s officially spring, which means it’s sugarbush season! A sugarbush is a group of sugar maple trees growing in the same area–and we’ve got plenty of them at camp.  

Over the past two years, our team of naturalists has grown their knowledge and expertise in collecting sap from 7–15 trees near the Heart of Camp. After carefully selecting which trees to tap, while giving those used in previous years a well-earned break, they drill a small hole into each tree and insert a spile, allowing sap to flow into a hanging bucket.

Each day, our staff collects the sap (and for some trees, those buckets fill up fast!) and stores it in the fridge until it’s time to begin the boiling process.

Zoe Allen, our Naturalist & Cultural Liaison, has led the sugarbush efforts this year and educated our students and community members on the cultural history of sugarbush, which holds an important role in Ojibwe and Dakota communities. The Dakota people are the original and rightful stewards of the grounds that Camp Fire Minnesota occupies.  

This past month, youth program participants in our field trips and break camps learned about sugarbush, installed spiles into trees, tasted the sap, and sampled spoonfuls of boiled syrup. Students learned that making syrup is no small feat, given that it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup!  

In late March, Zoe led our second annual sugarbush camp, in partnership with the Division of Indian Work. We welcomed 17 students for an overnight camp experience, which ended in a community boil-down with over 70 guests. 

Community members enjoyed homemade chicken noodle soup by Chef Derek Nicholas from Wiisinig LLC, oral storytelling by Zaryn Prussia from White Earth Tribal & Community College, and outdoor activities like archery and s’mores.  

We are grateful to our staff and community partners for sharing their knowledge with us and honoring the sugarbush tradition. Check out our video to learn about sugarbush directly from some of our break camp students and Minneapolis Community Ed staff!