PattersonMaple.com
Title
Patterson Farms Maple Products
Description
For three generations the Patterson family has been producing Maple Syrup, it was over 100 years ago that Grandpa Patterson first tapped his trees. The tradition was carried on by Father Patterson in much the same fashion, as did his father. They produced enough syrup for their own use and for trading for necessities.
At the time Grandpa was sugaring, there were no tractors or trucks, all the gathering was done with a team of horses and lots of labor. Wooden spiles were whittled from Sumac or another wood with a pithy center. Holes were bored into the tree with a bit and brace and the spiles were driven into the hole. Wooden buckets were set under the spile or they were hung from it. Sometimes three to four times a day, Grandpa and the family hitched Dobbin to the sled and traveled to the sugar bush to collect sap.
Remnants of the old sugarhouse can still be seen today, it was here that the entire family worked to boil the sap into syrup. Wood of course was the only fuel, and it took quite a pile of it. Grandpa was in charge of the work in the sugarhouse to make the syrup, while Grandma was in charge of the kitchen where the sugar was made.
