Our History: About Maple Sugaring at Toad Hill Maple Farm

We have been producing pure maple products at Toad Hill Maple Farm for over 30 years. Toad Hill is a family owned and operated maple sugaring operation located in the hamlet of Athol in the Town of Thurman, Warren County, New York. We manage over 760 acres of Adirondack forest land under the guidance of a professional forester who has prepared a written management plan based on the condition of each management area. Over 100 acres is actively managed for maple production with over 4000 taps on a vacuum assisted tubing collection system. Our management involves the selection and removal of defective, diseased and undesirable trees, construction and maintenance of roads and trails, installation of our maple sap tubing collection system, boundary maintenance, etc.

For more history of Toad Hill Maple Farm see “Toad Hill Maple Farm – The Galusha Family’s Sweet Life in Athol” by Persis "Perky" Granger in the March/April 07 issue of Adirondack Life. Also, see the June 2005 Quarterly of the John Thurman Historical Society. Copies available at:
http://www.thurman-ny.com/jths/JTHS_Publications.html

How We Produce

While maple sugaring is a year around business for us our production season usually begins in late February or early March and lasts until late March or early April. During this time and the preceding months things can be very hectic and stressful around the farm. First there's the rush to finish any remaining building projects. Then we have to get our tubing system repairs and maintenance done before we can tap. When it looks like the weather is going to break (warm days and freezing nights) we start washing equipment and head into the sugarbush to begin tapping. Tapping usually involves a crew of several people with cordless drills all on snow shoes. We visit each tree, drill a small hole and insert what is referred to as a spout, tap or spile (depends on who you're talking to). We utilize Health Spouts (a smaller diameter spout) to limit the damage to the tree. When the tapping is complete we start the vacuum system and cross our fingers for a good season.

If the weather cooperates and the sap flows we gather it in our tanks for processing by our evaporator. Although a season can last for over two months, most of the syrup is usually produced during 15 to 20 days scattered throughout the season. Periods of strong sap flow often lead to long days and late nights in the sugarhouse tending the evaporator. Our evaporator is a modern stainless steel system of pans with fully automated level controls and an automatic draw off that lets the raw syrup out of the evaporator when it reaches the correct density. It will turn nearly 500 gallons of sap into steam each hour and produce an average of 12 gallons of raw syrup. It's not uncommon for us to boil over 5000 gallons of sap and produce over 150 gallons of syrup on a day when the sap runs well. While we are doing all of this we still have to monitor and maintain our tubing collection system to ensure maximum production. To do this we regularly walk all of our lines (over 20 miles of tubing and mainlines) to check for damage from wildlife, falling tree limbs, etc. Repairs are made to keep everything operating at peak efficiency.

We pride ourselves in our products and take numerous steps to insure that they are of the highest quality. Sanitation is one of the main keys to producing quality products. We regularly spend hours washing tanks and equipment so that our sap is always fresh. All of our sap is sterilized and filtered before boiling. Our syrup is filtered by high pressure filters and stored in stainless steel drums. We hot pack all of our syrup in retail containers to guarantee that the consumer receives a product of the highest possible quality.

Once the season is over we wash all of our tubing, tanks, evaporator, etc. and then start packaging syrup in retail containers and delivering it to our customers. During the summer we work on maintenance and expansion projects. If you would like to see things in operation please feel free to visit us. Please call before visiting to make sure we're not out in the sugarbush.

Visit us during Maple Weekend!