The sap starts running with temperatures in the 40s in the day and around the mid-20s at night. Around the middle of March, the “sugaring off” season starts. This season is a part of the culture of the North Country and maple syrup is a signature of Quebec, Vermont, and upstate New York .

To learn more about the process that goes into making the syrup on my pancakes, I visit the Parker Family Maple Farm and Gift Shop in West Chazy, New York. Upon walking into the very cozy gift shop, I was greeted by all the family, and their friendly golden retriever, Dylan.

Their farm began in 1884 when Adolphus and Amelia Parker bought one acre of land. In 1889, they bought 60 adjacent acres and started a dairy farm and maple sugaring operation. Now, Adolphus and Amelia's grandson, Earl Parker, owns the business. Earl Parker owns 700 acres with a 45-cow dairy farm and a 20,000 tap maple operation. Additionally, they have a gift shop and a website.

“For one tap, the tree has to be about forty years old and at least twelve inches in diameter.”

Michael Parker, son of Pat and Earl, and Clifton Yelle, a teenaged neighbor, take me out to tap a tree. “For one tap, the tree has to be about forty years old and at least twelve inches in diameter,” Michael Parker informs me. Depending on the size, some trees can have up to four taps. Additionally, he explains, all trees are tapped and connected through a network of plastic tubing on a vacuum—known as the sugar bush. At the Parker's, one vacuum, stored in a sugar shack, is connected to one thousand taps and thousands of feet of plastic tubing. The sap is then collected from large metal tubs three times a day by Parker in a tank truck, like a milk transporter.

The sap is then stored in holding tanks. Parker estimates the total amount collected is about 160 thousand gallons. One gallon of syrup is equal to forty gallons of sap. Parker cautions me, saying, “sap is like milk, in that it will spoil. So we try to start the process as fast as we can.”

The process begins with the sap undergoing double osmosis. This separates the sugar molecules from the water. The result is sap with 75 percent less water. After, the sap is put into the evaporator. The evaporator is a very large machine where the sap is boiled at seven degrees above boiling point until it reaches the consistency of syrup. The sap flows down the pan evaporating, while gradually thickening. When the sap becomes syrup, it is siphoned off automatically into a bucket due to density and gravity.

Next, the syrup goes into a filter press. It is much more concentrated in this stage. The filter press picks up minerals and creates a “nice, clear product,” Parker explains. Following this step, Parker packages the syrup in forty gallon steel drums and ships it out to bigger outfits all through the Christmas season. For Parker's syrup, they reheat and re-filter it. In the end, the syrup is canned with the Parker name and New York State pride.

Then, Parker's wife, Jen, teaches me how to make maple candy and cream. “It's pretty easy,” she says with a smile. “You boil the syrup longer at about 244 degrees Fahrenheit in a candy steam kettle. When the candy is cooled to about 180 degrees Fahrenheit the syrup is poured into a candy machine.” This machine consists of a “pig,” named so because the metal jar part of the machine looks like a pig's body. When syrup is placed in the “pig” it draws down into the “worm.” The “worm” looks like a large metal spring. The worm quickly spins to whip up the syrup. Next, the candy is set into maple leaf molds and left to dry. Jen adds, “it takes about two gallons of syrup to make sixteen pounds of candy.”

To make maple cream, syrup is cooked at 234 degrees Fahrenheit. When it is cooled to seventy-five degrees, it is whipped up to the consistency of peanut butter.

Returning to the gift shop, Pat Parker, the mother of Michael Parker, shows me her various selections of Parker Maple Products: maple jelly, maple cream, maple candy, maple tea, maple nuts, and a maple leaf pendant. She proudly tells me about the success of her maple gift baskets. A unique feature of the Parker Maple Gift Basket is that Pat Parker allows the customer to pick what they would like. She can make baskets from anywhere from $7 to $100. “What I'm most proud of, besides my family, is that we have been family owned and operated since 1889.”

Earl Parker, Pat's husband, is an innovative leader in the New York maple industry: He is a former President of the New York State Maple Producers Association, a former President of the Northeastern New York Maple Producers Association, state delegate of the associations and has received prestigious awards through his work. He is also active with Cornell University's Maple Research Program and Uihlein Station in Lake Placid, where they research and study forest management and innovative ways to improve maple syrup production.

The sense of tradition and pride is not lost in this family. Kristina Parker, Pat's daughter, created a quaint exhibit displaying various old tools formerly used to collect maple syrup: an old yoke, an old wooden bucket, and old taps strategically placed like a museum display.

If you are interested in learning more about maple syrup, I suggest you visit the Parker Family Maple Farm and Gift Shop on March 26, New York State Maple Weekend. There will be open candy demos, tours and wagon rides, as well as donuts with maple cream on them!

Have you ever been on a maple syrup tour?

Parker Family Maple Farm and Gift Shop
1043 Slosson Road
West Chazy, New York

Stop by soon!

Here are some really great recipes from the New York State Maple Producer's Association, Inc.

Maple Crunch Chicken

“Melt ½ cup margarine in a pan in 350 degree oven. Beat 2 eggs with ¼ cup Pure Maple Syrup. Dip chicken pieces in this sauce and then into instant oatmeal and salt. Place chicken in pan with margarine and bake until tender, turning 2-3 times.

Rolled Maple Sugar Cookies

1 cup shortening 4 cups flour

¾ cup Pure Maple Syrup 2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup white sugar ½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs, well beaten 2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons milk

Cream shortening with sugars. Add well-beaten eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, sifted together. Mix and chill thoroughly. Roll out thin on floured board and cut with cookie cutter. Bake on greased cookie sheets in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. Makes 6 dozen 3 inch cookies.”

Additionally, there are always the traditional pancakes to add your syrup to. If you have maple cream, you could put it on toast and/or oatmeal. Peanut butter and maple cream sandwiches are also tasty.