By Kate Bartlett
Sprague’s Maple Farms in Portville, NY, is one of many maple farms celebrating NYS Maple Weekends March 22-23 and 29-30. Founded over 40 years ago, Sprague’s has grown into one of the world’s finest purveyors of pure and natural maple syrup products from the picguresque Allegany Mountain region.
Randy Sprague began ‘sugarin’ over forty years ago as a hobby. “I got started as a kid,” explains Randy. “I visited area farms making syrup with friends. I started tapping my own trees when I was about 10 years old in my own driveway. It quickly became my hobby and just kept growing.”
In 1976, Randy bought his first commercial sugar bush, or forest stand of maple trees to tap for the production of maple syrup. “We began bringing our syrup to food shows and our products became well-known,” explains Randy. “Now our products are sold across the country.”
The farm has expanded from a few hundred taps to around 25,000, and acquired more property in order to adequately expand and meet the needs of the farm. In 2001, Sprague purchased the property of its current location, at 1048 Portville Obi Rd in Portville. “I’d had my eye on this property for a while,” recalls Randy. “I knew it’d be perfect for our maple farm; it’s what I’d always envisioned.”
The property boasts 90 acres nestled in the beautiful countryside alongside a picturesque pond. The main building features a full-service restaurant along with a gift shop to purchase maple products. The maple syrup production line is also housed in this facility, allowing guests to watch product being made.
The 250-seat restaurant opened in February 2001 initially serving breakfast foods to feature Sprague’s maple products. However, the restaurant has also become well-known for their hot turkey sandwiches. “These are one of our top selling items on the menu,” says Randy. “The roasted turkey dinners are our #1 selling item. We raise about 2,000 free-range turkeys on our property; the turkey is exclusive to our restaurant.”
Sprague’s Maple Farms makes a variety of maple products, including syrup, maple cream, maple sugar, jelly, and granulated maple sugar. “There is something for everyone,” says Randy. “We offer various sizes, prices and quantities.” Sprague’s ships large orders across the country and into Europe.
Randy describes maple season as short and intense. “Every season is different and totally dependent on the weather,” explains Randy. “Ideally, we have freezing nights and warming days for the sap to flow freely. This season, we started on the first of March, last year we started in January, but it’s typically from mid-February to end of March.” Maple sap is a diluted liquid, with only 2% sugar content. “You have to boil away about 40-45 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup,” explains Randy. “This year, we’ve averaged 65 gallons of sap for one gallon of syrup; we’re working twice as hard for the same amount of product.”
It’s a delicate balance to keep their syrup in stock year-round. “Our syrup is stocked in various specialty shops around the county, and we offer shipping online. We don’t’ want to overproduce, but we don’t want to run out of our products either. We work hard to find that balance.”
During NYS Maple Weekends, Sprague’s will offer maple syrup demonstrations behind their main building from 10-4pm both Saturday and Sunday. Guests will be able to take a wagon ride through their property back to their sugarhouse in the woods where they can watch a wood-fired evaporator producing syrup. They’ll also have maple cake donuts, sugar on snow, maple chardonnay and the opportunity to sample different grades of maple syrup. “It’s sure to be a fun weekend and a great family experience,” says Randy. “We invite everyone to come out and experience what we have here on the farm.”
For more information, visit spraguesmaplefarms.com, or visit Sprague’s for their second NYS Maple Weekend on March 29-30 from 10-4pm. The restaurant will be open regular hours from 8am-8pm both days.