06-03-2025
Maple syrup season finally arrives in Erie
'We haven't been able to tap. We're going to tap maybe this Sunday,' said Janet Woods, owner of Hurry Hill Maple Farm & Museum.
The owner of Hurry Hill Maple Farm said the harsh winter has moved tree tapping back not days, but weeks this year.
'Last year, if you were boiling and tapped on January 20, you hit it and it was over March first,' said Woods.
Woods said farmers with tubing tapped after the January melt and the sap from those trees is finally running. There's still a foot of snow in her woods, but there would be none of the sweet reward without the dramatic change of seasons.
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'Maple syrup can only be made in North America — The United States and Canada and around the five Great Lakes,' said Woods.
'Without the peaks in warm and cold temperatures, the sap wouldn't run the way we need it to at the volume that we need it to,' said Theresa Gamble, project manager for the Hurry Hill Maple Museum.
Hurry Hill Maple Museum educates visitors on the process of making maple products the traditional way. From tree to pitcher to serving table.
The museum also brought to life a children's book that won the Newbery Medal. It's based right here in Edinboro and is about making maple syrup and so much more!
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'It's warm, it's wonderful. It addresses things like the difference between living in a city and living in the country and how nature and being outdoors can really be good for the soul,' said Gamble.
It can also be messy! The 22nd annual Northwest PA Maple Taste and Tour will take place March 15 and 16. It features 23 sugar shacks. If you go, wear your boots!
'Because mud and snow is what makes good maple syrup!' said Woods.
For more information about the tour and a list of sugar shacks, click here.
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