Meet your Farmer is a series of in-depth stories about producers in St. Lawrence County.
Michael Greer of Sugartree Village has a passion for maple syrup. What sets Michael apart from other small-scale maple producers is he set up his maple production behind his home in the Village of Potsdam and collects sap from the trees in his residential neighborhood.
With permission from his neighbors, Michael taps trees on 28 properties in the village. He has as many as 450 taps, which he says is his human production limit, as he collects the sap by hand-pouring it into a 170 gallon steel collection tank in his truck.
One of the reasons why he loves maple so much is because you can get into it at any level – on a home scale or on a commercial production scale. Michael got interested in maple by tapping the trees in his front yard. He started with just 6 trees and grew his business from there. Greer says, “The sugarhouse is a cool place. Sugaring season falls at a time when other outdoor things come to a halt. It also comes at that point in the winter when you’re bored with winter.”
As a retired residential builder, Michael put his skills to use when he built his beautiful timber frame sugarhouse. Before that, he brought his sap to his neighbors to boil it, producing enough for family and friends. Now you can find his products at his home in Potsdam or if you are a winter CSA shareholder at Kent Family Growers, you will get some of his delicious syrup with your share.
This year’s maple production was shorter than in years past. The higher-than-average temperatures and fluctuating patterns made this season’s sap collection time a disappointing 2 weeks compared to an average of 6 weeks. Michael ended up with about a third of what he usually produces. He is not the only one out there with a lower final yield this year, as maple producers from Minnesota to Maine reported a decrease in overall production.
No matter the weather or length of season, Michael says his operation will stay the same and he will continue to gather the sap in buckets and boil over a woodfire. He stays away from plastics, and bottles his syrup in glass bottles, limiting his overall footprint. Michael plans on keeping his production small, human-powered, and waste free.