A week before the annual Maple Taste & Tour Weekend, while the rest of the 75 or so area maple producers were out trying to squeeze out every last ounce of sap from their maple trees, longtime producer Janet Woods was out in her back yard scheming.

Was there a way in nearly 2 feet of snow to get all of the equipment she needed back into the woods?

“I tap with all buckets,” Wood said. “I don’t use tubing. I have to be able to get through the snow to tap the trees and gather the sap.”

The January and February blizzards paralyzed that effort.

“It is impossible for me to get into the woods to tap the trees,” Woods said. “We tried unsuccessfully (March 7) to drive the tractor to the woods. We got stuck with a snowmobile. I went out (Thursday) and there is still 18 to 22 inches of snow on the level in the woods and higher in the drifts. There was just no way.

“I’ve decided not to tap.”

Mother Nature has played quite a role in this year’s harvesting of maple syrup across the region. Laura Dengler, owner of How Sweet It Is in Saegertown, and Jim Bortles, owner of Bortles Sugar Shack in Linesville, both said production this season has been less than favorable due to the weather conditions.

For example, Bortles, whose syrup took home Best in Show at the 2009 Pennsylvania Farm Show, just recently began tapping his maple trees. He has boiled just four times so far and said there is “not much more in sight until it freezes again.”

In 2008, Bortles and his son, Chase, boiled a total of 13 times and got 56 gallons of syrup. Last year, they boiled seven times and got 30 gallons. He said it is too early to tell just how much he will end up with this year.

Dengler said it is imperative in syrup production that it freeze at night and warm up during the day. On Wednesday and Thursday of this past week, the average high was around 60 degrees and the average low was around 35.

“You need it to freeze at night and then warm up to between 38 and 44 degrees during the day,” Dengler said. “It’s been too warm and we’re not getting the freezing at night. It’s been beautiful out, but we’re not getting any sap.

“By the Maple Tour, you want to have at least three-quarters of your production done. Everyone is just now gearing up.”

And some not at all.

“The ‘incovenient truth’ this year is that Mother Nature is in charge,” said Woods, who doesn’t recall ever seeing a maple syrup season like this. Woods said she has been involved in the maple syrup business since her father built a sugar shack back in 1959 and has never had a season where she hasn’t been able to tap.

“This is agriculture. This is farming. This is Mother Nature,” said Woods, owner of Hurry Hill Farm and Maple Museum on Fry Road in Edinboro.

Woods and Dengler, who are among the 13 local syrup producers participating in this weekend’s Maple Taste & Tour, said the lack of syrup production will have no impact on the tour.

Dengler said while her supply is limited, she does have enough for the tourists to sample. Woods, meanwhile, has gone a different route to ensure she has syrup available.

“I have decided that I am going to promote and market Pennsylvania maple syrup,” Woods said. “I’ve purchased syrup from other producers and will be selling it. It’s just a beautiful quality.

“One of my goals is to promote and market local syrup and producers so that Pennsylvania syrup stays in Pennsylvania and doesn’t go wholesale somewhere else.”

All in all, it should still be a successful weekend.

“Everyone should expect to get muddy,” Dengler said. “Honestly, not everyone has a paved driveway. So it will be muddy. But it will be a great time.”



Lisa Byers can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at lbyers@meadvilletribune.com.



Although maple syrup production is down, Janet Woods said hobby maple syrup production has still been quite popular. To learn how to produce your own maple syrup, visit ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0036.html.





The seventh annual Maple Taste & Tour Weekend is Saturday and Sunday at various locations around Crawford County and the surrounding region.

On Maple Taste & Tour weekend, 13 area maple syrup producers will open their sugar houses from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day for the public to see how the delicious amber liquid is made, taste free samples, have fun and buy a variety of maple products from syrup to cream, and crumb to candy.  

Participating sugar houses in Crawford County include:

- How Sweet It Is, 19868 Greenleaf Drive, Saegertown.

- Sleepy Creek Honey & Maple Syrup, 22399 Cemetery Road, Venango.

- Howles Family Maple Products, 27828 Patterson Road, Guys Mills.

- Lost Acres Maple Heaven, 22363 Beaver Road, Conneautville.

- Williams Family Maple Products, 17320 Theuret Hill Road, Saegertown.

- Our Lil’ Sugar House, 16234 S. Mosiertown Road, Saegertown.

- Paul & Lucinda Burgess (Saturday only), 5491 Beaver St., Springboro.

In Erie County:

- Ft. LeBoeuf Maple Syrup, 2789 Dublin Road, Waterford.

- Hurry Hill Farm, 11380 Fry Road, Edinboro.

- Maple Lane Maple Products, 9437 Phillips Road, Union City.

- Triple Creek Maple, 9225 Fillinger Road, Cranesville.

- Casbohm Maple Products, 9750 Sherman Road, Albion.

- Yatzor’s Maple Products, 5860 Koman Road, Edinboro.

This year’s event also will feature the Woodmobile, a traveling exhibit from the Pennsylvania Hardwoods Council. It will be located at Hurry Hill Farm and Maple Museum.

Also, the inagural Edinboro Maple Festival will be held simultaneously at the Edinboro Volunteer Fire Hall, 125 Meadville St.

Both the Taste & Tour and Woodmobile are free events.  

- More information: Go to pamaple.org.



The inaugural Edinboro Maple Festival benefiting the Edinboro Area Historical Society is Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Edinboro Volunteer Fire Department, 125 Meadville St., Edinboro.

The event features pancakes and sausage covered with local maple syrup, an arts and crafts show and music.

- More information: Go to edinborohistory.org or call (814) 734-3562.