Our New Jugs Have Arrived

Since our first year of retail sales Old State Farms has purchased plastic jugs from a local supplier that can be used by any Pennsylvania maple producer. In the beginning this worked great because we could buy a few cases at a time and simply put our label on the jugs. As our business has grown we decided it was time to have jugs made with our own Old State Farms label. This is a big step in the world of maple syrup producers. For one it requires a significant capital investment (artwork charges, screens for the printing, minimum order of 20 cases of each size). Secondly you are now officially your own brand are held to higher quality standards. We welcomed the challenges of both and in October took a trip to New Hampshire to pickup our first order of jugs from the Bacon Jug company. We originally had a freight company lined up to deliver the jugs but when I heard it would cost $1500 I decided to go myself. My wife wasn't going to miss a chance to visit the White Mountains so at 3am on a Tuesday morning we packed the whole family in the truck and headed for Littleton NH, 12 hours later we loading the boxes on to the trailer. We spent the rest of the day enjoying Littleton which is home to Chutters candy store (it has the longest candy counter in the world, 112ft). I took advantage of the quite country roads and went for a relaxing bike ride. After breakfast on Wednesday we off headed for home. The trip home was bit unnerving for the for few hours, towing this albatross of cardboard, plastic wrap and cargo straps down the highway. After the first few looks of disbelief of my fellow travels on the highway I decided just to look straight ahead when cars went past. We made it home safe and sound and didn't lose any boxes in the process.

The Art of Pancakes

Now that you have found the best Maple Syrup money can buy (ours of course) please don't even think of pouring it over a frozen waffle or pancake. Pancakes on Sunday, and Saturday morning if time permits, have become somewhat of a ritual, we've made many a batch by trial and error and have learned a few things along the way. Great pancakes are not complicated but do require attention to detail. We would like to share the key ingredients and techniques that will take you to the next level of pancake making.

Flour: There is no substitute for fresh ground flour but if you do not have your own flour mill get the freshest you can find. We use a combination of wheat and white flour. We also add a touch of corn meal to the mix.

Liquid: Buttermilk makes the best pancakes hands down. We also add a dollop of sour cream to enhance the flavor.

The Mixing process: Mixing should be kept to minimum. Stir the liquid into the dry ingredients with 7-10 gentle strokes, you will have lumps in the batter. Over stirring activates the gluten in the flour and will make the pancakes tough.

The Resting period: The batter should rest for 5-10 minutes while the skillet heats up. This allows the gluten to relax and moisten some of the lumps of flour in the batter.

The Recipe: (this has been adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

In large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients (my wife makes mixes multiple batches of dry ingredients and stores them in an air tight container for a quick breakfast during the week).

Whisk eggs, add buttermilk, whole milk and sour cream, whisk until blended. Add liquid to dry ingredients, remember stir gently and as little as possible, some lumps should remain. Let the batter rest 5-10 minutes.

Boalsburg Memorial Day Festival

For our 3rd year in a row we set up a booth at the Boalsburg Memorial Day Festival. The day starts with a 5k race (I have yet to compete) and continues with Civil War reenactments throughout the day. There are vendors selling a wide variety of hand made crafts, jewelry, pottery, leather goods and art. Our kids always enjoy the wagon rides through town and the petting zoo. They also have live music throughout the day and into the evening. My brother and his family live in town so we make a weekend of it and send the day on Sunday with his family. We plan on attending next year so if you live in the area mark your calander.

Low Impact Maple Production

With everyone going "green" lately we have decided to highlight some of the ways we produce maple syrup and at the same time use methods that are environmently friendly. By the way we have been doing these things for years.
1. We use tubing instead of buckets to reduce our activity in the woods. All our sap flows to one main collection point, we do not have to travel through the woods with tractors or ATV's causing root compaction. New research also shows that galvanized buckets contain lead which can leach into the sap and the final product.
2. We use scrap wood from local sawmills as firewood, rather than cutting down living trees. Also our evaporator has air injection for the most complete burn possible. The smoke you see rising from a fire is a result of incomplete combustion. The smoke contains carbon that can still be burned for heat. By forcing air into the firebox we burn those gases and maximize heat output. Our evaporator is also outfitted with a steam hood. The steam hood traps the steam from the boiling sap and is used to preheat incoming fresh sap (aprx. 40F) to 200F before it enters the evaporator pans.
3. We do not use any chemicals to clean our tubing. We use household vinegar which as you know is an acid. As it sits in the sap lines through summer and fall is slowly breaks down the residue on the tubing walls and is flushed out at the beginning of the next season.
4. We use reverse osmosis to remove 75% of the water in the raw sap before the boiling process. Less water in the sap means less boiling time and this means less fuel consumed.

These are just a few of the small things we do to achieve or goal of producing pure maple syrup but at the same time having respect for the surroundings we work with.

Open for Business

After two years of construction we have moved into our new store and are open for business. For years my father in law has wanted to build a retail outlet for his hardwood products (flooring, moldings, doors, etc). We started with an empty steal building and the finished product is sure to impress the most seasoned travelers. We actually took down a 100 year old barn and reconstructed it inside the building. The barn is complete with slate roof and copper flashing. The Hardwood Mall, as it is called, is a showcase of over 20 different species of wood. Our hardwood paneling covers most of the walls, and my brother-in-law who owns a hardwood floor installation business in Front Royal VA, installed over 8,ooo square ft of hardwood floors through out the Mall. We occupy a corner both and sell our maple products and butcher block as well as wooden toys, bowls, pottery, pepper mills and salt shakers. We are still adding products to our line up and I'm sure it will continue to change as we learn how to run a gift shop. The best part, everything in the Hardwood Mall & and our gift shop is American made. When I say that I mean good'ol made in the USA. All the furniture, rugs, hardwood products, gift shop products, kitchen cabnits, rocking chairs, doors, pictures, and whatever I missed is made in the USA. So stop and be proud of we still make in the USA.

2009 Maple Season Review

The 2009 maple syrup crop is in. We had a good year making just shy of 900 gallons. The weather was not the greatest this season, temperatures were a bit high (50 and 60's rather than high 30's and 40's) but we carried on none the less. Our new vacuum station worked like a charm. In the past we used a 6 hp gas engine to run one of our vacuum pumps. After learning the hard way that small gas engines are not made to run for 36 hours straight we decided to go electric. This fall we had a power poll set and moved the station 600 ft so it would be right next to the road. We had a few equipment problems, we blew up a sap transfer pump on the first day, and someone stole a $500 generator out of the woods, but nothing catastrophic. We had quite a few new quests stop by the sugarhouse, it is always fun to have people who no little or nothing about pure maple syrup stop by. Some of them think maple syrup comes straight out of the tree others are surprised to learn Mrs. Butterworth and Log Cabin are just corn syrup with caramel coloring. We have moved into or new store so if you are traveling interstate 80 through Pennsylvania stop in for a taste.