Maple Syrup

One of the rituals (and joys) of Spring and living in Northern New York is the making of maple syrup. It is something I remember as a child growing up on the farm. As luck would have it, I have been able to share this activity with my students at Potsdam High School.

In 1997 I had a parent and student come to me with a plan to construct a sugar shack and start a small maple production facility right on school property. The administration at the time was very supportive and gave the green light, as long as there was no cost to the school district. In other words, go ahead, but raise your own money. To make a long story short, four years later we started boiling sap on a small 2x6 evaporator. Since that time the "business" has passed down to succeeding generations of students and has expanded. We now hang 350 to 400 buckets and boil on a 2^1/2 x 8 evaporator with a pre-heater and automatic draw-off.

This season has been one of our most successful. I helps that I have a group of very active students. The runs started very early. In fact, we collected our first sap on the last day of February! By March 21st, we had made forty five gallons of excellent, high grade syrup.

I wish I had a tally of how many Potsdam students have had a chance to watch the boiling and taste a sample of fresh made syrup. We've made the newspaper several times and scored a TV news story once. It has been a wonderful hands-on project that the students really enjoy because they have ownership. It has been a great example of local food production. Far too many students are disconnected from their food and the source of their food.

I'm really going to miss this activity when I retire. Oh, I may make syrup at home or help my brother in law with his operation. But I will really miss working with groups of dedicated and hard working students who have the energy, creativity and enthusiasm that make this a very special project. I'll have to make sure that I expose my grandchildren to the art of making maple syrup so that they can make their own special memories!!