• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Shop Local, Eat Fresh at the Saratoga Farmers' Market | Food, Crafts, Music in Saratoga Springs

Shop Local, Eat Fresh

  • Markets
    • Our Markets
  • Vendors
    • Vendor Directory
    • Becoming a Vendor
  • About Us
    • SFM Association
    • History
  • Programs
    • SNAP/EBT & FMNP
    • POP Club for Kids
    • Summer Internships
    • Compost Collection
  • Get Involved
  • News
    • Featured Article
    • Seasonal Recipes
    • Weekly Newsletter
  • FAQ
  • Contact us
    • Message us!

When Sap Starts to Run, Spring is About to Come

March 14, 2018 By marketeditor

By Himanee Gupta-Carlson

 

Slate Valley Farms, photo courtesy of Pattie Garrett

Pat Imbimbo starts plotting out spring in the cold darkness of January. For him and for his family, this means trekking across the 101 acres that make up their Slate Valley Farm, inspecting the health of their 2,600 or so maple trees, and preparing to install taps, buckets and other equipment needed to capture the sweet flow of sap when it starts running.

By tradition, Imbimbo likes to start putting the taps into the trees on the first full moon of the year, or shortly thereafter. Then, his daughter, Gina Willis, waits for him to tell her to start opening them.

Willis sells Slate Valley’s maple and honey products at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. She smiles in delight as she recalls how customers start asking her in late January if the sap’s running.

“It’s the anticipation, the excitement,” says Willis. “A sign of spring coming.  It’s like that little animal … the groundhog. We wait for it to come out of the ground every year.”

In general, maple tree sap starts to flow when daytime temperatures rise above freezing (32 degrees Fahrenheit) and nighttime temperatures go below freezing. That fluctuation creates a pressure in the trees that encourage the sap to flow.

“We get excited as the time gets closer and closer,” says Willis. “We have one tree kind of near the house that sort of acts as a gauge for us. As the temperatures start getting warmer, we’re checking it all the time.”

Maple sap is the first official agricultural harvest of the year in New York State. But like the uncertainty as to whether or not the groundhog sees its shadow the actual beginning and duration of the season can vary. In addition, Willis notes, the sap flow is a bit temperamental. If it gets too cold or too warm, it might stop and then restart again.

Behind the excitement are long hours. Forty gallons of sap are required to produce a single gallon of syrup. The boiling begins as soon as the sap starts accumulating, often taking place at night when the day work is done and lasting for Willis sometimes until 3 a.m.

Visit the Saratoga Farmers’ Market 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at the Lincoln Baths Building in Saratoga Spa State Park; follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram; and contact friends@saratogafarmersmarket.org for volunteer opportunities.

Filed Under: Featured Article, News Tagged With: maple syrup, Saratoga Farmers' Market, Slate Valley Farms, spring

Reader Interactions

Before Footer

Instagram

Rainbow chard, zucchini, squash blossoms, and snap Rainbow chard, zucchini, squash blossoms, and snap peas- Summer produce is in full swing!! Stop by our 9-1pm market tomorrow! We’ll have live music by Running the River and Bruce Blinn-Knapp ☀️💐

#saratogasprings #saratogafarmersmarket  #farmtotable #agriculture
Instagram post 17866988591699491 Instagram post 17866988591699491
Let's celebrate the end of school and the beginnin Let's celebrate the end of school and the beginning of summer! Tomorrow, from 3-6 pm at High Rock Park, children and families are invited to a FREE concert by Jack & Steve Zucchini and lots of free, fun activities and food tastings. The Saratoga Springs Public Library will have a free butterfly craft. There will be free face painting by Artsy Fartsy Face Paint. Jodie Fitz will be here with her book Fidget Plants a pizza garden and kids can plant their own pizza garden at the POP Club tent! At POP Club, kids will receive a $2 POP coin and their first stamp on their POP Passport! It's our 7th season of POP Club and we are so grateful for the support from The Christopher Dailey Foundation. This event is rain or shine!
Schools out for the summer!! Stop by for some brea Schools out for the summer!! Stop by for some breakfast sandwiches and fun at our market tomorrow from 9-1pm. We’ll have live music by Matt Griffin and Rick Russo plus guests @headcountorg and @ccesaratoga Master Gardener!! Hope to see you there!!

Photos by: Pattie Garrett @mysaratogakitchentable 

#saratogasprings #saratogafarmersmarket #farmtotable #agriculture #shoplocal

Footer

With support from our friends at:

Copyright © 2022 · Saratoga Farmers Market · Design by REACH CREATIVE

    COVID-19: Check our latest Safety Guidelines!
  • Markets
    • Our Markets
  • Vendors
    • Vendor Directory
    • Becoming a Vendor
  • About Us
    • SFM Association
    • History
  • Programs
    • SNAP/EBT & FMNP
    • POP Club for Kids
    • Summer Internships
    • Compost Collection
  • Get Involved
  • News
    • Featured Article
    • Seasonal Recipes
    • Weekly Newsletter
  • FAQ
  • Contact us
    • Message us!