MIDDLEPORT: Wolf Maple Products taps into state's Maple Weekend

By Joyce Miles<br><a href="mailto:joyce.miles@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Joyce</a>

MIDDLEPORT — When Jason and Heidi Wolf throw open the doors of their sugar house this weekend, they’ll show how sweet it is to live off the land.

Statewide, Maple Weekend kicks off Saturday, and Wolf Maple Products is participating for a fifth consecutive year. The only commercial-grade maple syrup producer in Niagara County has moved into in a market typically identified with New England.

New York state actually is the No. 2 producer of maple syrup in the United States. Wolf Maple is one of only about 1,500 producers at work in this upstate industry, and according to Heidi Wolf, together they’re tapping less than 1 percent of maple trees throughout the state.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” she admits. “You’ve got to love what you’re doing. The season only lasts about six weeks, and when it’s on ... you’re going to lose out on some sleep.”

Maple production is a seasonal second job for Jason Wolf, a partner in family-held Wolf Landscaping. When he and Heidi bought an old farm 10 years ago, the woods out back were not the reason why. Once Jason got around to exploring them, though, the sight of all the maples evoke a fond childhood memory: making syrup with his neighbors. The do-it-yourselfer thought it would be a cool thing to show his kids, so he put together a basic kit — taps, jugs and a boiling vat — and gave it a whirl.

The lark grew into a small business within a few years, as the Wolfs upgraded first to a wood-fired cooker, then an even larger, stainless steel, oil-fired evaporator they bought in Vermont. It’s not as romantic as the wood-fired set-up, but it is more efficient, Heidi said; having to keep a fire fed well into the night is a pain and it doesn’t make the syrup superior.

Syrup is made when maple sap is boiled to exhaust its water content. At the Wolf farm, sap is collected from a tubing system, trucked from the sugar bush (woods) up to the sugar house (garage) and is gravity-fed into the evaporator from outside. As the heat reduces the sap, Jason keeps vigil over the thermostat; when the temperature reaches exactly 7 degrees below water’s boiling point, the syrup is ready for bottling.

In a typical season, Wolf Maple produces 100 gallons of syrup. It takes 4,000 gallons of sap.

While Jason handles production, Heidi heads up the marketing effort. She shops for shelf space with local niche retailers — Gordie Harper’s Bazaar, Becker Farms, Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises, maybe a winery or two — and dreams up new ways to make maple a kitchen staple. Visitors to the farm this weekend can try her maple mustard, maple barbecue sauces, maple onion dip, maple cheesecake, maple soft serve ice cream ... and take away copies of the recipes they like.

“I’m always trying to think outside the jug,” she jokes.

The Wolf Maple Products lineup consists of more than maple syrup. From fellow producers Pat and Terry Laubisch of Medina, the Wolfs learned how to make maple butter, granulated maple sugar, maple cotton and candies as well. Within the maple community, Heidi said, producers aren’t competitors, they’re companions with a common goal: raising New York maple’s profile.

Maple is appealing to people who crave natural foods, according to Heidi. In granular or syrup form, it has the same amount of carbohydrates as white sugar or corn-syrup-based pretenders, but it’s minimally processed and contains nutrients, including calcium and potassium. As sweet and sticky go, she suggested, you can feel better about maple.

“We don’t do chocolate milk here. Our kids drink maple milk. It’s a healthier choice,” Heidi said. “The kids take our syrup to school on pancake days. I take it to restaurants, take some along when we travel. I can’t eat that other stuff. I just can’t.”

Maple Weekend events at the Wolf farm will include rides out to the sugar bush, tours of the sugar house, old-time and modern production demonstrations, samples and a children’s craft corner. The bluegrass band All Strings Considered is performing In the sugar house loft from noon to 3 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday only. Maple Weekend continues March 28-29.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.

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