It’s maple season! This past weekend was the start of the 2023 New York State Maple Weekend which spans two weekends.

Each year maple syrup producers throughout the state open their doors to the public, welcoming visitors to see and learn about their maple syrup making operations; from sap collecting to the creation of the sweet final product. 

On Aden Road in Parksville, there are two open houses to visit, Justus Asthalter Maple Syrup, Inc., run by the Boyes family, and Muthig Farms, operated by the Muthig family. 

Both maple producers have been in the syrup-making business for generations, though they keep up with the modern methods of production. Visitors taking the tours will learn how the process has changed over the years from collecting buckets to collection lines, and see the modern multistep machines that help automate the process of maple syrup production.

Between them, Muthig’s and Asthalter’s make a variety of maple products from light to dark syrups, maple cream, maple jelly, maple candy, maple hot sauce, maple barbecue sauce, maple mustards, and even bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup at Asthalter’s. Visitors can get a taste of maple-flavored cotton candy at either of the open houses.

New York is the second-largest producer of maple syrup in the United States, behind only Vermont, and the producers in the Catskills play a big part. 

To find out which maple syrup producers are participating, log on to mapleweekend.nysmaple.com.

Maple Weekend 2023 continues this Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.