SUGARING

Blending Tradition and Technology

In 2010, Yancey's Maple in Croghan, N.Y., was a unanimous winner of a North Country Heritage Award from Traditional Arts of Upstate New York (TAUNY). The award recognizes individuals, families or community groups that have mastered traditional arts or customs identified with the northernmost region of New York state and have remained committed to passing them on to future generations.

The Yancey family of Croghan, N.Y., is a well-deserving winner of a Traditional Arts of Upstate New York North Country Heritage Award.

TAUNY Executive Director Jill Breit says, "In a region where maple sugaring is a long-standing and widely maintained tradition, the Yancey family stands out. Haskell and Jane Yancey, along with their children, operate the sugar bush where their ancestors first tapped trees in 1844. The Yanceys are among the few sugar bush operators who still gather most of their sap with buckets and horse-drawn tanks, and boil the sap down in wood-fired evaporators.

"Their operation is a springtime destination for family, friends, neighbors and new visitors to the region. The old-fashioned charm of the horses making their way through the trees and the sheer enthusiasm with which the Yancey's share this local custom guarantees that crowds will always gather," Breit adds.

New York State Maple Producers Association Executive Director Helen Thomas says, "I would say there are maybe 10 producers around the state who have horse teams for work and/or entertainment. The New York State Maple Weekend experience for visitors is enhanced by seeing how well the big animals respond to commands and can maneuver their load."

Sugaring with horses, and they suspect oxen in the early years, is a long-standing tradition for the Yancey family. Haskell Jr. and Jane and their children, Tim, Cathy and Beth Yancey Faulknham, are the fourth and fifth generations on the farm that is also a 165-acre, 100-head dairy farm.

"We all have a certain amount of like for horses. Using a well-behaved team is easier than gathering with a tractor you have to climb off and on. You can call a team ahead to you, and that means you are not carrying the buckets so far," Haskell says, "and, you can talk to a horse."

Twenty-six-year-old Tim bought his first team in November 2010.

"I always wanted to have my own horses. Draft horse dealer Erin Lundy sold us a well-broke, middle-aged team from the Amish in Ohio. I have used them to break roads through the sugar bush, and they have responded well so far," Tim said just before the 2011 sugaring season.

The atmosphere surrounding the Yancey sugar bush in the spring has the feel of a national park. A long road leads to the sugarhouse, and it is a thrill to watch and wait as the horses appear in the distance and get closer tree by tree. The family Labrador accompanies the team as the aroma of sweet maple wafts out of the sugarhouse like a lullaby on the air.

Todd Moe of North Country Public Radio has recorded sap boiling and the jangle of the harness as the horses draw a load up an incline to the back of the boiling shed. The tank is emptied by gravity feed into the 1,500-gallon holding tank.

"The public appeal of Yancey's Maple is the family inviting you to share their love of the maple season on a working farm. The nostalgia of the old-fashioned way of tapping to make a true North Country product is epitomized in that they still use horses to pull the sap wagon. While they are modernized in some ways, they retain an old-world charm with the steam rising off the pan and a lot of wide-eyed visitors smiling as the sap bubbles into syrup," Moe says.

Some of the modernizing at Yancey's is seen with tubing on about 600 of the farm's 6,000 taps.

"We added tubing to trees on steep sidehills that are difficult to reach with the horse-drawn sled," Haskell says.

"We may expand our tubing to more hillsides, but I would always like to keep the horses for gathering on the flat. There may be easier ways, but I like it like this," Tim adds.

In March 2010, Yancey's Maple joined Facebook.

"The idea started when I tried to tell my college friends what we do and it didn't quite click. It dawned on me that Facebook would be a great way to present sugaring to them so they could see what goes on and hopefully understand better," Tim says.

He has posted notes about meeting with N.Y. Congressional Representative Bill Owens at the American Maple Museum in Croghan to discuss maple issues, and shared his excitement about the arrival of the Belgians, Dick and Doc.

"Our Facebook site (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yanceys-Sugar">www.facebook.com/pages/Yanceys-Sugar bush/453507645014) lets people see pictures, get updates on happenings, and helps develop their interest in visiting in person. They can check to see if we are boiling or have product available, and that saves them and us a phone call," Tim says.

The Yanceys have worked with the Cornell University Maple Program on a variety of projects. In the fall of 2010, Tim posted on Facebook about planting 25 of the fast-growing "sweet trees" developed at Cornell and sold through RPM EcoSystems plant nursery. They've planted several of the young trees around the boiling shed, some in open areas, and others in areas cleared of hemlock and beech.

The expense of a new boiler that might replace their two 1920s-vintage evaporators has been postponed in favor of repair and replacement. The only original parts may be the cast-iron doors. The last replacement part had to be specially made in Canada, still Haskell says, "We only use the evaporators 25 to 30 days a year. They are in reasonably good shape, so we don't plan to replace them yet."

A benchmark of 600 gallons judges a good year. The Yanceys sell most of their syrup "between the boiling shed and the house." Some Maple Weekends the syrup is sold as fast as they can cap the plastic jugs. They do some mail order and sell some syrup in bulk.

Jane studied food science in college, and the family says she is famous for using maple syrup in many recipes, including her spaghetti sauce. She makes sugar cakes, maple cream and granulated sugar to sell.

"I learned how to make maple cream and maple confections from Aunt Hilda. I used to do all the stirring by hand, but now have her maple cream machine to make that easier. Everything we make is 100 percent pure maple syrup. We do not add nuts or anything else," Jane says.

Adding, "I learned how to make granulated sugar at a workshop offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension, and now that suckers can be made 100 percent with pure maple syrup, I may make those in the future."

Haskell is a past two-term president of the Lewis County Maple Producers Association, he helped start the Northern New York Maple Co-op, and he and Jane serve on the American Maple Museum Board of Directors.

"These groups give us a voice with our state legislators and a forum for sharing similar interests and problems in both a formal and informal way. Just talking with other producers can be a great benefit," Haskell says.

He says the co-op and the American Maple Museum, located in Croghan, developed as offshoots of those local associations.

"The co-op provides the local producers with a way to sell our bulk syrup. It does not handle a huge volume, but provides a source for someone who may want to buy just two drums of syrup," Haskell says.

The author is a freelance writer who keeps horses and sheep on a 100-acre farm in Mannsville, N.Y.