Once again this past weekend, people throughout the state marked Maine Maple Sunday, visiting local farms and sugar shacks for a taste of this region’s sweetest natural treat. This annual event is promoted by the Maine Department of Agriculture’s “Get Real Maine” campaign and helps maple syrup producers promote their products.
For those of us who are natives to this area, it’s hard to believe that anyone would ever accept maple-flavored, corn syrup-laden substitutions on their pancakes and waffles. Real maple syrup is an everyday delicacy of the Northeast and Canada, and a source of pride for those who take part in the tedious process of turning maple tree sap into this sugary liquid wonder.
Maine Maple Sunday gives people an opportunity to learn about the process of making maple syrup, from tapping the trees to the precise techniques of boiling it down into that succulent Grade A amber. Many farms also take this opportunity to promote their other offerings, which vary by season.
Nine boilers in York County alone participated in the event, showing off traditional wood-fired boilers, hosting pancake breakfasts, and selling maple everything ”“ from whoopie pies to candies and coated nuts.
The events are fun for children, with many farms hosting a petting area of their animals, like at Hilltop Boilers in West Newfield, but seeing the syrup-making process is an interesting opportunity for people of any age ”“ and there’s nothing quite as enticing as the smell of the boiling sap inside a sugar shack.
Maine Maple Sunday is also important for the local economy, and a financial boost for many farms. At Hilltop Boilers alone, co-operator Bruce Bryant estimated 2,500 maple whoopie pies went out the door on Maine Maple Sunday last year alone. Sales of bottled syrup and various maple goodies are an important supplement to the farms’ income during a time between the regular harvests of vegetables and hay.
Events like Maine Maple Sunday remind people that their neighbors are trying to make a living selling their fresh, Maine-grown products. Like the annual Open Farm Day held in July, Maine Maple Sunday draws people to local farms not only for that day’s events, but hopefully for future purchases of meat, dairy products and vegetables. Agritourism events such as these, when the public is invited onto a farm, have grown in the past 10 years as farms have struggled to find ways to survive in competition with large scale producers of meat and vegetables. Hayrides and corn mazes in the fall are combined with cross-country skiing, skating and sledding in the winter, offering people a country life experience while helping farmers through the off-season.
As visitors become familiar with the farms and the people who run them, the hope is that more people will be willing to buy from the farms year-round and keep the local economy strong. Though people are once again looking to buy locally, it’s all too often easy to just purchase goods at a supermarket rather than buying from local farms.
The Eat Local Foods Coalition of Maine now has a website, www.eatmainefoods.org, that helps people find locally grown foods in their area. As well, an off-season farmer’s market has been started in the former WestPoint Stevens mill on Main Street in Biddeford, with vendors selling items from alpaca sweaters to jams and jellies. The summer farmer’s markets are also going strong in nearby towns as well.
We hope that those who indulged their sweet tooth this past Sunday will remember that for most farmers, maple syrup is only part of what they offer. Next time they think about buying seasonal vegetables at Walmart or over-processed meat in a Styrofoam tray, perhaps these farms will cross their minds instead. It shouldn’t be just on Maine Maple Sunday, but throughout the year that we all patronize York County farms for the offerings of each season, in support of Maine agriculture and the local economy.
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Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via e-mail at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
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