See you in the woods soon!
Maple Syrup Day for Homeschoolers: Friday, March 15, 2013, choose 10 a.m. or 2 p.m.
Maple Syrup Saturday public open house: Saturday, March 16, 10—2 p.m.

__Homeschool families are invited to join us for a FREE sugarbush tour on Friday, March 15. Choose from either the 10 a.m. or 2 p.m. session (same content both times). Learn how we go from sap to syrup as you walk from station to station through the woods. You'll experience the whole process firsthand and even get to sample sweet, pure maple syrup. Get your hands dirty and take part in the process with us. Please let us know you're coming and which time slot you'll attend: sue@stuever.us. You'll definitely want to wear play clothes for this one. Dress for the weather — it's about 10 degrees cooler in the shaded woods — and prepare to walk in mud or snow. Your friends and family are invited, too. Feel free to spread the word to other homeschoolers.

Everyone is invited for our FREE open house on Saturday, March 16. Sample piping hot pancakes topped with fresh, pure maple syrup. Walk the woods and see how syrup is made. We love talking maple and will enjoy telling you about what we do and answering your questions. Come anytime between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. No need to register.

Battel's Sugar Bush is a family farm in the Thumb of Michigan, producing delicious maple products: Pure Maple Syrup, Pure Maple Cream and Pure Maple Candy.

Our family has been producing high-quality pure maple syrup in the same woods near Cass City, Michigan, since 1882. Currently the fourth generation of Battels run the sugar bush, assisted by the fifth generation.

While some things have changed since our Battel ancestors of the 19th century boiled sap in an open kettle (which you can still see at the family home), the basic process is still the same — and nearly as quaint. Come springtime when the sun begins to warm the trees, yet winter weather still freezes them at night, that’s when we begin to tap trees. Sap is coaxed from the sugar maples and boiled for hours over a rolling fire until nothing remains but pure syrup.

The Great Fires of 1871 and 1881 that swept across the Midwest managed to miss our stand of 300 sugar maple trees, although much of the surrounding Thumb of Michigan was devastated. We think it’s something greater than fate.

Pure maple syrup is available by the gallon, half-gallon, quart, pint and special sizes and containers as available by request. Diane’s award-winning maple cream (also natural with nothing added) is a delicious treat, and her candy is simply delicious. We invite you to tour the sugar bush by appointment as you stop by to make your springtime purchases. The sugaring season typically runs from late February through early April, though we aren’t the ones in charge of the weather.

When you visit, you just might find the sixth generation of Battels playing hide-and-seek in the woods and beginning to learn the family craft.

In a society where it seems just about everything is manufactured, maple syrup is something we can still enjoy straight from nature. Maple syrup is a whole food and a natural sweetener. Nothing added.

 



Members, Michigan Maple Syrup Association

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© Sue Stuever Battel Public Relations, 2013