Maple Mudness

Maple lovers undeterred by rain and snow

The sweet scent of all things maple was accompanied by the squelch of boots through mud during this past weekend’s Maple in the County festival. The rain and snow hurled in a last-gasp effort by March to leave like a lion failed to dampen the spirits of thousands of visitors to the County’s sugarbushes and other businesses celebrating the first harvest of the year. Despite a driving rain on Saturday morning, an outdoor bonfire soon had a pan of maple sap steaming away in an old-time demonstration of syrup making at the Jubilee Farms breakfast site on White Chapel Road. In the garage, around two dozen people were enjoying a gluten-free pancake breakfast, made with buckwheat grown on the farm accompanied by Jubilee’s own maple syrup for a full farm-to-table experience. The lure of the special pancakes, which included eggless or dairy-free versions, was what attracted Nellie DeVries. “This is the first time we’ve gone to breakfast at Maple in the County, and it’s very nice,” she said. “We have a lot of celiacs in the family, so this is important to us.”

There was also a steady stream of visitors to Nyman Farms, where the main attraction for the youngsters was the barn with newborn lambs, inquisitive goats, sedate hogs and friendly hens. The kids seemed to have almost as much fun stomping through the mud as they did visiting the animals. Barbecued burgers and sausages, hot soup and tasty maple treats rounded out the offerings. There was a steady stream of visitors to Sugarbush Vineyards as well. Rob Peck had his miniature 18-inch Grimmon evaporator stoked and running at full-bore, providing the heady aroma of wood smoke mixed with maple. In the tasting room, visitors could sample the luscious taste of maple taffy in addition to the vineyard’s wines.

It was also a muddy trek to the sugarshack at Hubbs Sugarbush, where the Ameliasburgh Masonic Lodge members were serving a pancake breakfast for the 43rd year. Over 450 people showed up for breakfast on Saturday, and part of the proceeds from the breakfast were to be donated to the Wounded Warriors project. Despite a slow and late start to the maple season, Ron Hubbs was satisfied with the harvest this year. The sap started flowing in earnest only after March 20, but the sugar content was higher than usual so the sap to syrup ratio was around 30 to one, rather than the more usual 40 to one. The higher sugar content was reported by a number of other producers, who ended up with very nearly the same amount of finished product despite collecting less sap this season.

A snowy Sunday didn’t stop visitors to Walt’s Sugar Shack from rocking out to the sound of The Reasons. Young and old alike were movin’ and a groovin’ to the tunes of the Sixties. There was a face-painting station for the youngsters, and the wagon ride had full loads throughout the day. A team of nearly a dozen cooks and servers were kept busy dishing out breakfasts to the hundreds of visitors. The maple donuts, maple cotton candy and Walt Drops were selling like hotcakes, too.