Saturday, March 26, 2016

Local Saturday - How Sweet It Was

In the last two weeks of March, upstate New York hosts a couple of Maple Weekends, where we can visit local farmers who produce maple syrup.  You get to see the process and have some maple samples.

Normally, the maple syrup process is in full swing, or nearly so.

Not this year. 

We went to a maple syrup producer in Harpursville, New York, Bush's Syrup House, on March 19.  One of the owners greeted us and other visitors.

The equipment laid quiet. And empty.

After a record strange winter, the maple syrup season shut off in mid-February after a mild, near 80 degree day.  It's been happening more and more, this truncating of the season.

Maple syrup can only be made during a small window of opportunity.

So, without the delectable boiling or bottling in progress, we looked at equipment.

We sampled (and bought) some dark syrup - to me, the best there is.  (Here are the grades).

I can only hope the maple syrup industry is not something that will go away with continued global warming.   We continue to find out more and more about the health benefits of maple syrup.

There may even be surprising health benefits to come.

Has the weather affected food production in your area of the world?
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7 comments:

  1. Alice GerardMarch 26, 2016 at 10:31 AM

    In 2012, we had a taste of summer in March. It went on for a week! The early apple trees bloomed prematurely. Then, there was a hard frost. The apple trees and the pear tree next door did not produce any fruit. My apple tree blooms later, so it did produce. But that was a bad year for apples.

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  2. Mithra BallesterosMarch 26, 2016 at 1:53 PM

    Oh goodness, yet another scary aspect of climate change. Thank you for sharing this important information.

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  3. Liz A.March 26, 2016 at 2:08 PM

    You did say the mild winter might do this. Sorry to hear it has.

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  4. The GypsyNestersMarch 26, 2016 at 2:26 PM

    Wow- had never thought about how climate change is affecting maple syrup production. So, so sad. -Veronica

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  5. LianeMarch 26, 2016 at 3:40 PM

    And yet another disturbing consequence of climate change. On a different note, I agree with you about dark syrup. I think it's far more flavorful.

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  6. UnknownMarch 26, 2016 at 5:07 PM

    I've been craving pancakes and syrup, so I bought some yesterday. Syrup from Vermont.

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  7. HistorySleuthMarch 27, 2016 at 1:59 AM

    I love maple season here in Wyoming County NY. I'll have to get out to more places before it's over! I went to one event where they were doing it over an open fire. Everyone smelled like maple. :)

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