Our friends Chris and Melinda run a local maple farm and were a part of NYS’s Maple Weekend.

We visited their open house on Sunday and enjoyed the all you can eat pancake breakfast. Andy also enjoyed the sausages ;-)

The kids got to drill and tap a tree and learn how the process starts out in the woods.

Ben was convinced the syrup itself was coming out of the tree, not the sap.

We also toured the sap shed where everything is boiled down into the usable product. It’s a 40 to 1 ratio, 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.

Chris built and welded the evaporator in the sugarhouse.

There were some history, equipment and of course tasting stations inside as well.

Before we left we visited the monster truck and tractor.

The kids also loved the animals that were outside.

Thanks Chris and Melinda for sharing your farm and a part of your life with us. You guys are passionate, hard working and have a pretty awesome production going on! I’m proud to know you!

And just because I get a chuckle out of it, this is OUR maple syrup production. We tap two maple trees in our side yard. They’re not even the right kind of tree (silver maples instead of sugar maple) but it’s fun!