By: Maria Genovezos, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
GALLOWAY, NJ – On February 2, 2026, the groundhog saw its shadow, signifying six more weeks of winter, but this was not the only sign of this extended frosty weather.
Stockton’s Maple Project sap lines have been frozen solid for about two weeks with no sap flow, which could extend their season.
“Harvesting maple sap is really weather-dependent,” Lindsey Brown, the lead for the maple hubs, events, and community education at Stockton University, said. “It requires a freeze-thaw cycle. So below freezing nights and above freezing days, and the more drastic the temperature change, the more negative pressure is created in the trunk of the tree, the heavier the sap will flow out.”
Due to weather requirements, sap tapping in South Jersey is in early January to late February, but could be leading into March this season. When the maple trees begin to bud, signaling spring, the taps are pulled right away to preserve the quality of the tree, and due to the change in taste of the sap.
“Making maple syrup is sustainable agroforestry, meaning it’s a method of agriculture that you can do forever,” Brown said.
With industrial-powered vacuum pumps, there is one pump for all 600 trees, and another vacuum powered by electricity. The use of hydraulic oil diverts the sap into a holding tank, holding about 1000 gallons of sap. The sap is then transferred to their sustainability farm, where they have a sugar shack and a huge evaporator to boil the sap down to sugar.
“Thats really all making maple syrup is. The only ingredient in real maple syrup is maple sap,” Brown said.
The Stockton Maple Project involves its community through student education and family engagement, by introducing and educating the benefits of the value of our land.
Their family-friendly event of Adopt A Tree begins in November, followed in January, where they combine it with a maple workshop called From Tree ID to Pancakes.
“They would come out and pick their tree, kind of like a Christmas tree farm. You pick your tree, they get to name it, and we make it a family event,” education specialist Debra Sommers said.
Depending on the month of the event, families are educated on how to identify a red maple tree, and at the end of the season, they will pick up a small jar of their tree syrup and enjoy their syrup with pancakes.
Along with the excitement of choosing a tree and the tapping of sap, the families enjoy crafts and activities with the involvement of student workers and volunteers.
Education specialist Debra Sommers not only teaches about maple sugaring but also educates students in other schools about the importance of trees.
Sommers brings the lesson to the woods and breaks the lesson into three parts for the students with the intention of reminding the students of the value of our environment.
“I teach them about trees and why they’re important, because we take trees for granted,” Sommers said.
Through her lessons, students, in addition to learning about the difference, importance of our trees, and the significance of red maples, also experience sap tapping and the data collection involved.
Throughout the past five years, Stockton’s Maple Project has received continuous grant support from the United States Department of Agriculture.
Its grant support has enabled them to focus on the first two years on production and research on red maple trees, followed by increasing consumer awareness of maple syrup and promoting the sale of domestic syrup, and now further strengthening their students’ involvement and research.
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