2010 Annual Report for FNC09-783
Testing the Feasibility of Maple Syrup Production on Southern Ohio Family Farms
Summary
WORK ACTIVITIES
This was a busy year and we actually completed the project except for writing and publishing the results of our project.
First Phase: I started working on the project in the fall of 2010, by contacting the 4-H groups in Brown County Ohio, sending an e-mail through the county 4-H coordinator, inviting the group member families to participate in the project. Five groups responded with interest. We then made a presentation to each of the five groups, detailing how to tap a maple tree, gather the sap and boil it down, at the end of the presentation handing out spiles (taps) to the interested families. Only fifteen families expressed interest, far fewer than hoped, so I then contacted the FFA coordinator at Eastern Brown High School. The FFA group expressed great interest and we made a presentation at the school to the entire FFA. Of that group, seventeen student families expressed interest and actually completed the project. We thus had a total of twenty seven family participants in the project.
During this first phase of the project I spent approximately $100 worth of project funds on copying handouts and purchasing spiles.
Second Phase: In the late fall of 2010, we next purchased and installed a new Leader 2x4 Evaporator, as well as we purchased the necessary fire bricks, flue pipes, sap holding tank and flow pipes. We designed the system to meet our farm's requirements; outside under shelter, easily accessible to groups, close to our standing dead harvested wood fuel supply, etc. The evaporator cost $4,066, of which sum $2,000 was considered covered by the $2,985 first installment of the SARE grant. The flu pipes cost an additional $800 of which half was again covered by the SARE funds, added to the $100 spent during the first phase of the project, resulting in $2,500 worth of project funds spent through Phase Two.
Third Phase: Finally, in the third phase of the project, the sap began to flow in mid-February. I called the 4-H and FFA groups and arranged for two sap boil down days. I rented a porta-potty with SARE funds at the cost of approximately $100 to have at the farm as the boil down lasts a long time and we did not want to stress our small cabin's off-grid leach lines.
The 4-H boil down day was Saturday, February 26th. The FFA boil down day was Friday, March 4th. Prior to each day, we gathered and split standing dead hard wood to fire the evaporator, and we gathered and ran our own sap, collected from thirty maple trees that we tapped on our farm. We left approximately sixty gallons of sap, condensed into fifteen gallons in the evaporator, prior to each group's arrival, so that when the groups arrived, the boil down would not take as long and hopefully that by the end of each day, each participant could leave with a jar of syrup.
The 4-H groups only stayed from noon until five pm and the sap had not yet condensed into syrup, so we finished it off and called each participant to return the next day and pick up their percent share of syrup, based on the number of gallons of sap they brought to the farm.
The FFA group arrived on a school bus at 8:30 am and left at 2pm. They were able to leave with their percent shares of syrup, again based on the number of gallons of sap that they collected and brought down to the farm to boil down.
Other than the above noted purchases, we did incurred some additional expenses, for lumber to build a stand to hold a fifteen gallon sap tank into which we strained the sap the participants brought, a ceramic gasket to place under the sap pans, cinder blocks on which to set the evaporator so that we could rake out the ashes. These additional expenses totaled approximately another $100 of grant funds.
The remaining $285 of grant funding went toward personnel costs. Total hours worked during all three phases amounts to $3,400, leaving, $3,115 not yet reimbursed. I realize, however, that the grant will only reimburse an additional $2,985. Thus we are a total of $130 over budget.
Fourth Phase: The fourth phase of the project will not involve any expenses and will involve writing a paper and preparing a power point presentation regarding the actual project findings concerning the feasibility of maple syrup production on family farms in Brown County Ohio.
RESULTS
Even though we had far fewer participants that hoped, our results were exceptional. One 4-H family brought down thirty-three gallons of sap. All fifteen families were enthused and all indicated that they would boil down maple syrup for their own family consumption in the future. Many indicated that they had no idea how maple syrup was produced and had no idea that they could produce it themselves.
One of the FFA students gathered and brought down forty five gallons of sap. The student returned with his grandfather and another with his father. Both families plan to design their own evaporators and go into small scale family farm syrup production next fall. All of the FFA participants were excited about future maple syrup production and plan to produce syrup for their own consumption in the future.
The vocational agricultural department at Eastern Brown County High School now plans to apply for a grant to build a mobile sap evaporator. I offered to assist in whatever way I can.
In all we boiled down ninety six gallons of sap for the 4-H groups and one hundred and thirty one gallons for the FFA students and sent each participant home with their percent share of six and a half gallons of syrup, packed into eight ounce, pint and quart jars respectively.
In short, we, as well as our participants, learned that maple sugaring can be a viable small scale sustainable practice in Brown County, Ohio.
WORK PLAN
The nuts and bolts of the project are over. I now need to organize and compile my data and write several papers, as well as prepare a power point presentation to present at as many venues that will accept me and my topic.
These venues include the 2012 OEFFA conference (Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association) and OEFFA NEWS, Buckeye Farm News, Ohio Maple News, The 2012 Maysville Community College Family Farm Night, as well as writing articles for our local newspaper, the Georgetown News Democrat.
OUTREACH
As noted above, we hosted two groups on two different boil down days, reaching a total of thirty two families who actually participated in the boil downs, but the initial presentations to the five 4-H groups and all of eastern Brown High School FFA members easily reached over two hundred and fifty individuals.
I also hope to present a power point presentation regarding the project at the 2011 OEFFA conference. I have presented in the past (sustainable beekeeping, off grid living, backyard maple syruping) and usually have fifty or so individuals attend my sessions. Finally, I plan on simply hosting an open house boil down day at the farm during sap season 2012.
And, as noted above, I will submit articles to several sources, the OEFFA newsletter, Ohio Maple News, Acres USA, Mother Earth News and any other publications that might be interested in the topic of this grant.