If you haven't watch Wedding Crashers a few times the title of this post will probably be more confusing than funny but that's ok. Yesterday, Derrick and I went on a tour of a Maple Syrup Farm! Do you know where your maple syrup comes from? Did you know that if you buy regular syrup in the grocery store it probably has more corn than maple in it? I never really thought about these things until yesterday. I was looking for something to do Saturday since Derrick and I had the day off together. I went to www.localharvest.org and clicked on "Events." Then, I typed in my zip code and one of the events listed was;
"From tree to table, come out and see the new technology in the collection of sap through tubing and learn maple syrup history and get a taste of the wonderful product from nature."
Well that sounded pretty awesome to me so I called up the contact number, talked with the farmers wife, Donna Divoky and arranged for a visit. The Divoky Family is one of the most friendly and welcoming families I have ever met. Donna met us up at the house and gave us a tour of the farm where they grow vegetables and raise chickens and sheep. It was a really cool experience for me because I just recently finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and this farm was like experiencing parts of the book in person. After she showed us the farm, Donna walked us across the street towards the Sugar House. We walked through more farmland and Donna pointed out where each crop grows. She also told us funny stories about their sheep. Quite different from the docile lambs I always imagined!
Once we made it to the Sugar House we met Donna's husband, Dave Divoky and their son, Nick. The Sugar House is a little wooden house at the end of the farmland near the beginning of the woods with tons of white smoke coming out of the top and once inside, it smells wonderful. It's a combination of burning wood and cooking sugar. The land has been in Dave's family for over 80 years and it was a pleasure to hear stories about Nick's grandfather and the old ways of collecting the maple tree sap. Dave and Donna took us on a hike through the woods and showed us the tubing that draws the sap out of the trees and then up to the Sugar House where they boil the moisture out of the sap which turns it into syrup. We even got to taste fresh sap! How cool is that? It looks and taste like sugar water. After they filtered a batch of syrup, we each were handed a cup of it to sip while we visited. The Divoky's made us feel like family even though we just met them.
After a few hours we decided to start our 1 hour drive back home. Donna gave us 1 dozen eggs from their farm (for free!) for visiting. I can't say enough good things about this family. If you're ever in Ohio I strongly recommend visiting the farm. They also offer CSA shares (more about CSAs in another post). If you don't plan on visiting Ohio anytime soon, check out www.localharvest.org and see if there are any fun events going on near you. You might be surprised. I know I was.
Before anyone asks, I did not take pictures at the farm. I didn't want to seem rude since it was my first visit. I plan on visiting again so next time I'll ask if I can bring my camera :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment