POTSDAM, NY – February 27, 2014 – Maple Run Emporium will host a book signing event with author Michael Farrell on Saturday, March 15, 2014, from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, at 49 Market Street, Potsdam.Farrell will sign his book, The Sugarmaker’s Companion, An Integrated Approach to Producing Syrup from Maple, Birch, and Walnut Trees.
Maple Run Emporium will provide maple refreshments and information literature. Everyone is invited to enter the drawing for a signed copy of The Sugarmaker’s Companion, included in a gift basket of maple delicacies.
Sap will run in the North Country soon, and not just in maple trees. Here’s your opportunity to learn about and taste the differences between the saps and syrups of maple, birch, and walnut trees. Farrell will provide samples from the different trees as well as bottled Maple Water from Vertical Water. The event is also an opportunity to discuss sugaring with one of the world’s most knowledgeable experts. Whether you have 10,000 taps or are thinking about drilling one tree, Farrell has the answers to your questions.
As a go-to reference for both home-scale and commercial sugarmakers, The Sugarmaker’s Companion is a must-have for your library. The first book of its kind, it is a comprehensive guide, taking the reader through how to find trees for tapping to detailed analyses of large-scale production. It also explains how to integrate sugaring into the whole-farm system, woodland, and community. This book is sure to change the conversation around syrup production. Foresters, organic farmers with woodlands, homesteaders, preppers, permaculture enthusiasts, and seasoned sugarmakers will all find vital new information.
Essential economic data is also contained in The Sugarmaker’s Companion, including guidance for small- and large-scale syrup producers on how to create a profitable business model. Farrell documents the untapped potential of American forests and shows how sugaring can turn a substantial profit for farmers while providing tremendous enjoyment and satisfaction. Farrell incorporates the wisdom of traditional sugarmaking with the value of modern technology, such as reverse-osmosis machines and vacuum tubing. His balanced view of the industry offers a realistic picture of how modern technology can be beneficial — economically and environmentally.
The book also includes a focus on maple syrup as a healthy, local, sustainably produced alternative to corn syrup and other highly processed artificial sweeteners. Other key topics include organic certification, sugarhouse registration, and the new international grading system, plus marketing, facts on buying and selling sap, ways to process and market other tree saps, and methods to enhance diversity in the sugarbush including inter-planting ginseng, goldenseal, and mushrooms as understory value-added products. Farrell also provides an economic analysis of utilizing maple trees not only for syrup but also for saw-timber production.
The Sugarmaker’s Companion delivers practical, how-to skills such as determining what scale syrup production is right for you; how to find trees for tapping; the essentials of sap collection; the art and science of sugarmaking; how to build community through syrup production; and valuable information on ecological forest management and value-added products.
About the Author
Michael Farrell is the director of Cornell University’s Uihlein Forest, a maple syrup research and extension field station in Lake Placid, New York. There he taps approximately 5,000 maples, 600 birch trees, and a couple dozen black walnut and butternut trees. He has authored more than 50 articles on maple syrup production and forest management and often presents to maple producer and landowner organizations. Michael earned his bachelor’s in economics from Hamilton College, his master’s in forestry from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and his PhD in natural resources from Cornell University.