Making Real Maple Syrup

Take a short journey down the road of a New York sugarmaker. Watch the making of the real thing, pure maple syrup.

Walling’s Maple Syrup is officially certified organic!

Making maple syrup is a production rich in heritage and steeped in Native American tradition. We have gathered sap from maple trees and turned it into pure maple syrup for over 25 years, increasing our knowledge with every passing year. Acknowledging that this product is a special gift from the earth.  It is humbling to be a maple producer, in which nature is your boss.

At Walling’s Maple Syrup we believe in having the best quality product for your health and have been pleased to maintain organic practices for many, many years without any certification.  But, for JUST US to know that we have quality products, free of pesticides and anything synthetic, is not good enough.  Unless you are a local who is directly involved with us, you may not know important information about our manufacturing process.  Because of this, we have decided to become certified organic, to let EVERYONE know the standards we are upholding.

Some may wonder – isn’t all pure maple syrup organic?  The fact is, that while we support all pure maple syrup and it is ALL better than the “fake stuff,” not all syrup is created equal.  Several things differentiate organic from non-organic maple syrup.  One such example is:  There is a step in the sap boiling process that requires a defoaming agent (every syrup producer must use a defoamer or else the syrup & pans will burn).  We use and will continue to use organic, plant-based oil, because we believe it is healthier than alternatives sold by maple equipment dealers, that have synthetic ingredients.  When you have perfectly, sweet, maple water flowing straight from the tree, only to add a synthetic, man-made ingredient is – to us – doing an injustice to what nature is providing.  We want you to know exactly what our syrup entails, and that it is produced with everyone’s health in mind – including our own!  Our retail prices will also remain at their regular rates, and will NOTchange in accordance to the organic certification.

This is exciting news for us, and we hope you are excited about it too!  As always, our syrup operation is a family venture and becoming certified organic was no different.

Sugaring Season Begins

Derek, Kern, and Sue tapping

Sue puts the spout on a drop line

Kern drills the hole

Derek taps in the spout

We are always on the lookout for damage.  Here, Derek fixes a bite in the tubing.

Big ol' maple

Sue, in her cold weather gear

This past Sunday, we plodded through the snow and began tapping the beautiful, bare maple trees.  The amount of snow on the ground during tapping is always something we keep in mind.  In previous years, we’ve had to drudge through deep snow, several feet high, making hard work of an important task.  Climbing through snow up to your hips gets tiring!  

After Sunday, though, the temperature increased and we had some rain, melting a lot of the snow and making it easier to get around the woods.  Since then, the temperatures have been frigid and ice-cold (which might be an understatement!), but tapping has continued during the warmest parts of the day. 

As of now, it looks like there will be a warm-up tomorrow, so hopefully the sweet sap will start to flow!

Vermont Maple Festival

This past weekend a portion of our crew once again spent the weekend in New York's neighboring state, Vermont, for their annual maple festival and open houses.  As well as selling some of our syrup to a large buyer and distributer, we attended several different seminars, visited the maple manufacturers, and learned more about the new equipment and technology that is being produced.  We also met up with some other NYS maple syrup producers, along with sales representatives from the various maple companies in northern Vermont.  As always, the festival was informational and entertaining!

Feathered Frenzy Grand Opening & Open House

This past weekend was the grand opening and open house at Southwind Farms in Otego, NY.  We were one of the vendors in their newly renovated shop.  Many families visited the farm, which has many animals and birds to enjoy.  They also have a very interesting greenhouse, in which hyrdoponic and aquaculture systems are utilized.  They have a variety of fresh locally grown vegetables and meats for sale.  We will be one of the many vendors here on the 2nd Saturday of every month.  Join us for a taste of maple!

Locally produced items in the shop

A few of the many visitors