Like all farming, maple syrup is a crop, and we have to harvest it. Instead of plowing, tilling and harvesting with tractors, we rely on the trees that planted themselves hundreds of years ago, to give up some of their sap, or life force, to us for processing. We ‘tap’ the trees, run lines of tubing to connect them all to a tank and then we collect the sap from the tank in the woods and bring it here to our sap house at the farm. From there it goes into the evaporator, to be boiled for eight hours or more. Once a good majority of the water in the sap is boiled off, we then have maple syrup. From sap that looks like water and has only 2-3% sugar content we get syrup that is brown, and has 66.6% sugar content. There are only two by products of making maple syrup: Steam and distilled water. How beautiful is that? What a pure process!
Maple season brings in spring, customers here for tours and lots of hard work. It’s all worth it because without this crop, our farm wouldn’t exist. I love it all. During our Maple Weekends, we sometimes have a thousand visitors come through our doors ready to experience a piece of history in the making. With the sweet smells and tasty treats, customers also take hay rides through a portion of our woods and then feast their eyes on a beautiful view of the northern Catskills. The beauty of our farm, and surrounding land never cease to inspire and amaze me.
Come share my love of life at my farm this maple season!
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