From Sap To Syrup To Store: How Ann Arbor Area Farmers Make & Sell Maple Syrup

89.1 WEMU | By Lisa Barry - In Memoriam

Published March 6, 2017 at 4:13 PM EST

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Lisa Barry

It's Sap Season, and Michigan ranks 5th in maple syrup production in the United States.

In Ann Arbor's "Greenbelt region," an area of protected farmland, there is a multi-generational family-owned farm which is busy this time of the year making syrup.

Malaika Whitney holds 2 jars of the syrup sourced and packaged on Whitney farm just north of Ann Arbor

Credit Lisa Barry

I take you from sap to syrup to store to explain how what comes from an old local tree ends up on your pancakes...

An old stove is used to package the syrup into glass jars before it is taken into town for sale.

Credit Lisa Barry

Malaika Whitney and her husband Matthew Haarklou stand in front of the sugar house they built with old trees from the farm to improve the maple syrup making process.

Credit Lisa Barry

Blue plastic bags are used to collect the sap dripping from the taps on the sugar maple trees on Whitney Farm.

Credit Lisa Barry

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— Lisa Barry is the host of All Things Considered on WEMU. You can contact Lisa at 734.487.3363, on Twitter @LisaWEMU, or email her at lbarryma@emich.edu