175 Years of Green's Sugar Bush

DRC After Hours Sponsor: Diana Morrow

Jeni Melcher, who along with her spouse Tom is a sixth-generation co-owner and operator of Green's Sugar Bush, will join the After Hours group to talk about their renowned maple syrup operation, her family history, and the upcoming 35th annual Maple Festival.

Green’s Sugar Bush near Castalia is the oldest continually operational business in Iowa. The family has been producing maple syrup every year since 1851. The maple farm is about 60 acres in size, and the Melcher familiy taps the trees every spring to make their wildly popular syrup. It takes an immense and variable volume of sap to create maple syrup -- a single tap may only yield 1/2 pint to one quart of syrup. Every year beginning in 1991 the family has hosted the Maple Festival and Pancake Breakfast the last weekend of March and the first weekend of April.

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