Community News

Did you know that New York State is the second largest producer of maple syrup, putting out 18% of the country’s supply?

Second only to Vermont, but who knows, the future looks strong in the syrup season for our state and plenty of trees have been tapped. In fact, some believe we have the largest maple tree stock in the world.

So, it only makes sense that New York State puts together what is now famously known as “Maple Syrup Weekend.” This is the 19th year of the annual celebration, and we have so much of the liquid kitchen gold that we have two full weekends of festivities revolving around the production and consumption of can’t-eat-pancakes-without- it sauce. They even give you a map, https://www.mapleweekend.com/producers/, so that you can find all the places you want to have a spot of that ooey gooey stuff. You could even have a family-friendly, maple syrup crawl.

I asked around to see if I could find someone closer to Oswego that would be participating and guess what? Joseph and Hannah Yardley at 524 County Route 64 in Mexico participate. They are a family-owned business that just loves the sugar shack. From 10-4 pm, you can take a tour of how that yummy golden deliciousness is produced and brought to your table. They tap over 3,000 trees to get just over 1,000 gallons. You can get a free sample and buy what you would like in gallons, half- gallons, or pints and pick up some candy or maple cream while you are at it.

Beaver Lake Nature Center, just over the Onondaga County line, offers some festivities this weekend, too. From 9am – 12pm on Saturday, you can get a quick pancake breakfast for $3-$7, depending on how ravenous you feel. Then you can take a quick hike down the Wildwood Trail to the sugar shack and listen to the educational side of the tree-to-table process.

Fowler Farms in Hannibal this year will not be having festivities, but the maple syrup is still available for purchase along with other goodies that the farm produces as well.

After purchasing your liquid gold, you can take it home and use it in any recipe that calls for sweeteners. Of course, pour that sweetness over hot pancakes, but also on bacon wrapped Brussel sprouts, or any roasted vegetable for a delicious diversion. Salmon, along with chicken or even beef, rubbed with maple syrup is quite a surprising delight. Use it as a sweetener in coffee or tea to replace sugar or simply to bake- 1 cup sugar can be replaced with ¾ cup maple syrup and lighten the other liquids by a teaspoon or two, to get a great consistency.

Whatever you make with your maple syrup, you won’t regret taking the opportunity to check out the local sugar shacks and patronize them. Look out Vermont, New York is on its way. Enjoy!