Host Suzanne Rajczi visits Soukup Farms in Dover Plains, New York, to learn from Mark and Jennifer Soukup about their multigenerational maple operation and its ties to the Dutchess County Fair’s working sugar shack. They discuss the farm’s history from a pre–Civil War orchard to today’s 150 acres owned, 500+ farmed, and 3,000+ tapped trees, along with sustainable forest management and proper tapping practices. The episode explains how sap becomes syrup through reverse osmosis, boiling on an evaporator, and hot filtering, including the “rule of 87” and how weather-driven freeze-thaw cycles determine season timing, sap flow, and syrup grades from golden to very dark. The Soukups also highlight community education via maple weekends, school and bus tours, and value-added products like maple sugar, cream, candy, and sauces.

00:00 Welcome to Soukup Farms
05:00 Maple Varieties Explained
06:14 Jennifer Joins the Operation
07:14 Evaporator and Filtering
09:16 Reverse Osmosis Basics
10:35 Weather and Sap Season
15:10 Tapping, Tubing, and Workflow
20:44 Boiling Hours and Yield Math
26:02 Flavor Profiles by Color
31:08 Tours and Maple Weekends
34:16 Dutchess Fair Sugar Shack
40:37 Cooking with Maple Syrup
41:27 Real vs Imitation Syrup
43:51 Value Added Maple Products
45:50 Closing and Next Episodes