A Word From The Sugar Shack!

I love the Stadlers, and love their product. I love that they are the Sugar Shack. One of my favorite clubs to hang out in Los Angeles when I lived there was the….Sugar Shack. So, of course, I am all over the whole Sugar Shack fun!

Anyway…this season needs a word from Marc and Shary…

After the brutal weather we’ve had in February and late March, it’s hard to believe there is a downside to this wonderful weather we are experiencing. But for maple producers, there is.

The “normal” season for making maple syrup starts in mid-February and runs for four to six weeks. An ideal day for collecting sap is sunny in the 40s to 50s, with nights below freezing. The freeze-thaw process creates changes in pressure within the tree, causing sap to flow. Nothing flows before it warms up, and the small holes begin to heal themselves and close after four weeks. Once the trees begin to bud, the sap turns bitter, and all collection stops.

This year, we got our latest start ever. On Saturday, Marc finished tapping our trees, and we were ready to email everyone, letting you know that Maple March Madness had begun. With warm temps, we expected a banner collection of sap. But the trees reminded us that it takes them a day or so to really wake up from their winter rest. Our first collection was meager, and the sugar content was down as well. In a typical year, sap contains a 2.5% sugar content; this year it’s looking more like 2%. What that means is that it will take more than the usual 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.

The weather forecast initially did not call for another freeze until two weeks out. We were lucky to have a low in the mid- 20s last night, so we will be collecting again today or tomorrow. But if you look at the extended weather forecast, there are not many days which show the needed below freezing weather at night. So we are uncertain how much maple syrup we will be able to produce this year. We are a small producer, with only 100 taps. We bottle our syrup after each boil, and put it in clear bottles so you can see as well as taste the difference in the syrup as the season progresses. We hope to be sharing our syrup with you again this year, but we have temporarily taken our syrup off the market as we wait to see how much we can produce this year.

For anyone who thinks maple syrup is a get-rich quick scheme, you might not know that most maple trees aren’t tapped until they are 30 to 40 years old. Also, we invite you to listen to this humorous poetic performance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqreE_O6mBU.

Thanks for your support.

Marc and Shary Stadler

Valley View Woodlands