More than 10 youth and Special Projects Manager Scott Kolz were very busy during the maple sugaring season at Snell Farm Children’s Center this year. The boys handled every phase of the work, from tapping more than 800 maple trees on the Snell Farm campus and running sap collection lines, to stacking wood for the evaporator, boiling the syrup, and filling and labeling the bottles.

“It seemed like more work this year than in previous years,” Scott says. A long stretch of unseasonably warm weather made the sap collection difficult. “You can’t make the sap run,” he says. “It was a problem throughout Steuben County.” In total, the boys produced about 30 gallons of commercial-grade syrup, which will be sold to food processors, and 16 gallons of “pancake-grade” syrup.

Despite the hard work, Scott says it was a fun and rewarding maple sugaring season for the youth who participated. “The support was great,” he says, “and the boys learned a lot. There’s always something new to learn.”

How to order Snell Farm Maple Syrup

Quarts of maple syrup are available for only $16 each, while supplies last. To check availability and place orders, contact Snell Farm Office Operations Specialist Deborah Koehler at (607) 776-5115, ext. 111 or send an email to djskoehl@hillside.com.