Maple Syrup Time; Michigan's Sweetest Time of the Year!

By T. R. Shaw

Maple Syrup is Michigan's oldest agricultural enterprise,
and the first crop "harvested" each year.

            My affection for all things Maple, began in my youth when I spent time at my grandparent’s orchard and farm market in Athens, Michigan.

 

Wayne and Lillie Smith operated the Smith Orchards in Athens. They spent their lives growing and selling apples and cider, mostly from their barn market in the fall and sold apples commercially to larger buyers such as Gerber Baby Foods and area supermarket chains.

            In the very early spring, just as winter was breaking a mysterious thing would happen.  Townspeople came around, drilled holes in the maple trees, which line every street in the village, and attached bags which filled up with water on warm days.  Not sure what that was all about, my grandmother would take some of that tree water, bring it into the kitchen and boil it down showing us how it becomes maple syrup.  My sister and I were amazed by the process and learned to love and appreciate pure maple syrup.

            On the other side of the village, several volunteers were busy collecting the sap, and boiling it down to syrup to sell in an annual community fund-raising project dating back to 1950.

 

Since then, volunteers of the Athens Youth Council, who maintain the annual tradition, have generated more than $275,000 for the community.  Their annual labor of love has benefited the village immensely, including helping the Boy Scouts, supporting athletic teams, buying equipment and providing local scholarships.  The funds have also purchased a Jaws of Life for the Athens Fire Department.  Some of the funds have been set aside to replace aging maple trees and upgrade the processing equipment.

 

The syrup is sold at various locations around the village, but usually doesn’t last long.  For many years, the founder of the project, Les Snyder, sold it from his front porch.

In the beginning, sap was boiled down in a wood-fired still which took a lot of time and attention.  There is a fine line between, sap, syrup and sugar.  You had to be careful not to over boil it.  Today, the operation has a state-of-the art computerized gas-fired evaporator built in Vermont, which makes the process fairly simple and efficient.

  

Sap collection is still labor intensive and determined by the flow.  Sometimes it’s a daily pick-up, other times it may take a few days.  Through a robo-call volunteers are notified when they need to help collect.  There is seldom a shortage of volunteers.  It takes about ninety minutes to get around the village and fill the mobile tanker.

Athens has had friendly competition with neighboring Union City whose Rotary Club has done the same project in their community for decades.

 

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi also partakes in the annual rite of spring on their reservation.  In fact it was Native American’s who introduced Europeans to the art of maple syrup production.  The craft and lore dates back hundreds of years in Native American culture.

            Maple syrup is big business in Michigan according to the Michigan Maple Syrup Association.  It is the oldest agricultural enterprise in the United States and the first crop “harvested” each year.  Michigan has about 500 commercial producers and approximately 2,000 groups like Athens, Union City and the NHBPI Tribe, along with many hobbyists.  Michigan ranks 5^th in the nation in Maple Syrup production at about 90,000 gallons which, seasonally brings in $2.5 million according to the Association website, 
www.mi-maplesyrup.com.

  

            Maple syrup activities have also become part of Michigan’s burgeoning “agri-tourism” sector with two major Maple Syrup Festivals each year one in Shepard and another in Vermontville.  This year, the Association will host a Maple Syrup Weekend in the North, Middle and Southern parts of Michigan.  March 18-19 is slated for Southern Michigan.  Information on events and educational activities can be found at www.michiganmapleweekend.com.

            According to the Athens Youth Council their best year, which typically begins in late February, was 695 gallons in 1984; their smallest was 129 gallons in 2000.  Mother Nature determines the length of the season and amount of production.  Last year they only collected sap for 10 days as the weather warmed quickly and the trees budded, changing the sugar content of the sap.  A good sap run requires a period of cold nights below freezing, with significant warming in the day.  It also has a lot to do with barometric pressure.  In a good year, the sap run goes for 3-4 weeks.  Much of maple syrup production and quality is based on luck, timing and weather rather than pure science.

            So, if you want to shake off winter and witness an annual rite of spring in Michigan, visit a Maple Syrup operation and bring your kids.

 

The Athens Maple House is located at 310 W. South Street in Athens and welcomes visitors when they are operating, mostly during the month of March.  For their operating hours or to help collect, contact Syrup Chairman J. R. Brunner at (269) 317-7593 or visit www.athensyouthcouncil.org.

           

Don’t miss out on one of the greatest and sweetest times in Michigan, but you’d better hurry, it doesn’t last long!

Collecting sap in front of my grandparents home and
former Farm Market in Athens in March 2016