We began in 1993 with 20 taps & buckets as an experiment – just to see if we could do it. That year we fabricated our own evaporator from industrial salvage and burned more fingers than wood learning the process.

But our friends and neighbors wanted to buy some of that first year’s production…all two gallons worth.

In 1995 we built a larger evaporator with a firebox that wasn’t so hard on our hands.

Then in 1997 we built our sugarhouse permitting us to process the sap inside, away from the February chill. We also bought our first “professional” evaporator that year and worked 800 taps.

In 1999 we tripled the size of our sugarhouse and replaced the evaporator with a larger unit, capable of handling the sap produced by our 2300 taps and then some.

The sugaring season is an extremely busy time and the whole family pitches in. One of us can usually be seen stoking the wood-fed fire under the evaporator, at all hours of the day and night for several days running. And some still ask what we do with the 40 cords of firewood that we stack up each summer?

In the end, it all depends upon the weather. Sap begins to flow during late winter spells when the temperature at night is in the 20’s and above 40F during the day. Some days we get 4000-5000 gallons of sap, some days we’re lucky to get 50 gallons. It takes 40 to 60 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.

Our products have been shipped to every state and most countries – a level of enthusiastic acceptance of our products that makes it all worthwhile.

River’s Edge Sugar House is located in a quiet country setting beside the picturesque Mount Hope River. Deer, turkey, quail, rabbits and other wildlife are often seen crossing our drive between the meadows and the sugar house.