Jack of All Trades— Masters of Syrup 🤪

One of my favorite parts of getting ready for the season is the final deep clean that we do of the sugar shack right before the sap begins to flow.

It’s likely that this is in part related to the constant construction we’ve been under during our off season— thanks to which we are now excavators, builders, roofers, electricians, plumbers, hvac technicians, concrete pourers, interior designers and more- in addition to being syrup farmers.

It‘s impossible in a single post to take you from start to finish on our renovations and upgrades to both the shack and our systems— but hopefully this gives a glimpse into all of the hard work we’ve put into the shack itself to make it not only functional in terms of space for manufacturing— but also for community— to be with our people and to share our syrup and our knowledge and our love for what we do with those around us.

The shack was built in 1991. Prior to that time, Tom’s family boiled syrup in the open woods dating back to 1919. I’m still pressing Grandma to get me those pictures to restore and blow up and use to decorate the shack. The above photos are from 2016 when we bought the farm from Grandma and Grandpa.

The first renovations on our end began and included expanding on the front (south) end of the shack. These pictures are from that time. We also started to “finish” the interior. We ran permanent electric and running water to the shack built a formal kitchen.

This is post initial renovation for the 2020 sap/syrup season. This was our first year producing maple cream and bourbon aged syrup. It was also our first year using a filter press instead of traditional filters—sweet Lord was that life changing and I’m sure will deserve a post of its own in due time.

But we weren’t done. As soon as the season ended for 2020 production construction again began. An addition 8x16 gathering space was added to the interior of the shack along with an 8x16 tool room to allow us to completely move our tools out of the operation area. An additional large cold storage room was added to house our sap tanks, tractor, etc.

The old shingled roof was replaced with sturdy and shiny metal. The exterior got a fresh coat of paint, a handy dandy garage door and a fancy new sign. And we finished the interior.

I wish I would’ve better documented the interior before we tore it apart, added onto it pretty much in all directions and fancied it up. These pictures are pre finish. The one on the right is pre any additions or lighting upgrades. I still have no idea how we crammed 20 visitors into that dingy place and we’re still productive 😂.

This was also pre vent hood and insulation etc when it would get so humid in the shack it would rain sticky sap rain on us all night long.

And this, friends- Is a glimpse of where we are today. Shiny and bright. Easy to clean. Tons of storage. Wood burner that doubles as my stove. Kitchen with running water!!!! But most importantly plenty of space to teach and share syrup and to spend in community—the things that keep us going and make every bit of this worth it.