These days I'm keeping an eye on the big sugar maple tree in my yard. I'm eager for it to begin oozing sap. Freezing nights and thawing days warmed by sun cause the tree to weep liquid that makes its trunk glisten and icicles form. I welcome this indication that spring is on its way.

Maple trees that only a few months ago were blazing with fall color will soon be releasing the hidden treasure that can be turned into golden syrup or creamy candy. Maple syrup is not just a Vermont or Canadian product. Some 100 producers belong to the Indiana Maple Syrup Association. You can find their products at farmers' markets and at the Indiana State Fair.

In case you have the yen to enjoy some great fun, I'll alert you to the 24th annual Maple Syrup Festival in Salem, IN. It's happening the weekends of February 28, March 1 and March 7, 2015, 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the chance to enjoy pancakes or waffles with your choice of strawberries, blueberries or apples, chocolate chips, ice cream or whipped cream and maple syrup. There are lots of activities and an assortment of maple products for sale, including maple cotton candy. The next county north also offers activities for maple syrup fans. Maple Syrup Program at Bray Family, Homestead Park, February 28, 2015, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., myhamiltoncountyparks.com, or if you are more adventuresome and want hands on Making Maple Syrup, February 19, 2015, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Monon Community Center & Waterpark at Central Park, carmelclayparks.com. Another popular Maple fest with farm tours is in Rockville, Indiana on February 21-22 & February 28-March 1, 2015, at the 4-H Fairgrounds.

You don't have to be a commercial producer to make your own maple syrup. When the sap starts flowing, I know people right around here who tap their trees with a spigot and hang buckets to collect sap. I don't know how much syrup they end up with but doubt that it's very much because it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce a gallon of syrup.

Commercial syrup production is quite fascinating. Producers tend to put one tap per trunk in trees that are 10-12 inches in diameter. They can have thousands of taps and pipelines leading to their sugar houses. Because sap is mostly water the first step in syrup making involves reverse osmosis. Then comes the boiling down in large metal evaporators over wood fires. When the liquid reaches 219 degrees, the cooking ends and syrup is ready for a final filtering. It then gets graded for color and flavor-the darker the syrup, the deeper that rich maple flavor.

Each time I'm reminded of this laborious process I appreciate the maple syrup I enjoy all the more and don't begrudge the price I pay for it. In the U.S. only syrup that is made totally from maple sap can be sold as maple syrup, distinguishing it from maple-flavored syrups. Even if we don't tap our trees or cook sap into syrup, we can be mindful of this first harvest of the awakening growing season, and what better way to celebrate it than with some maple syrup on our pancakes or French toast? Nature's goodness is never ending and maple syrup gives us the taste of spring all year long.