Southern Indiana Living Magazine - Jan / Feb 2023
January / February 2023 issue of SIL January / February 2023 issue of SIL
18 • Jan/Feb 2023 • Southern Indiana Living Local Spotlight In late winter, when the nights are still bitterly cold, but the days are bright, reaching 45 to 50 degrees, the folks at LM Sugarbush LLC – a family farm in scenic Washington County – begin their labor-intensive process of tapping more than 1,600 hard maples, collecting sap and boiling it down into maple syrup. This 140-acre operation is coowned by two sisters and their husbands, Jennifer and Nicholas Reisenbichler, and Emily and Robert Blackman. Although every part of the year here offers some distinctive magic, late winter – when the fragrant warm steam is pouring out of the sugarhouse – seems to be everyone’s favorite. “The farm got its unofficial start in the 1970s,” Jennifer said, “when an old classmate of my father’s from Vermont came for a visit and immediately noticed all the maple trees on the property.” Jennifer’s and Emily’s mother, Leane Whitaker, remembered those early days. “The first few years saw us collecting the sap in buckets, boiling it in an open pan under a winter sky and bottling the resulting dark syrup in quart canning jars. In 1981, we bought our first small evaporator and established Leane’s and Michael’s Sugarbush,” Leane said. By the time Jennifer and Emily were toddlers, their parents had purchased most of the modern equipment needed to run an efficient enterprise: plastic tubing for collecting the sap, a vacuum pump to aid the flow of sap through the tubes and into the storage tanks, a reverse osmosis machine to remove some of the water from the sap and a larger evaporator to boil it down into syrup. “There were plenty of stories about our childhood, and how we helped out,” Jennifer said. “We were home-schooled, and our mother turned making maple syrup into a unit of study – math, science, history. As I got older, I always wanted to keep up with the guys, so I learned how to do the hard work.” “Our Maple Syrup Festival got started in 1992,” Emily said. “I can still picture the sun rising over the hills on those early festival mornings before the crowd showed up. Everything was so still. It was better than Christmas morning.” One of Jennifer’s early festival memories is of driving people into their woods in mule-drawn buggies. “It made me feel quite savvy,” she said. In 2013, Emily, Jennifer and their husbands bought the farm, shortened its name to LM Sugarbush LLC, and have continued with many of the same pieces of equipment, work routines and traditions that they grew up with, making only a few changes. “Our evaporator is 100% woodfired, so we go through a lot of wood – 75 to 90 ricks of wood each year,” Robert said. “The addition of a Kubota tractor and gas-powered wood splitter in 2013 have greatly improved the efficiency of our firewood collection process.” Robert and Nic cut only fallen, dead or damaged trees from their property. “We use a lot of wood, but are committed to the wood-fired evaporator, versus oil- or gas-powered, because the wood enhances the flavor of the syrup,” Jennifer added. “There are other ways we develop the flavor of the syrup,” Jennifer said. “We monitor the temperature and pressure of the boiling syrup frequently. Still, some batches Crafting Maple Syrup Family-owned farm in scenic Washington County is one of Indiana’s largest producers Story by Judy Cato Photos by Lorraine Hughes will be sweeter than others, so before bottling, we taste and mix different batches together, if warranted.” “Bottling is done manually with a contraption made by our father,” Jennifer said. “We all pitch in to finish the product.” One of the most substantial innovations made by the younger generation is the creation of a line of bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup that is now the favorite of many customers. “Nic got the idea from a friend in the restaurant business who ages beer in bourbon barrels,” Jennifer said. “We started with Angel’s Envy port barrels. We have added Starlight Distillery barrels from Huber’s. We age it from three to six months, depending on the time elapsed since the bourbon came out of the barrel. The key to the flavor is to keep the barrels cold.” In 2022, they expanded their partnership with Starlight Distillery to include a maple-finished whiskey. “After we complete our aging process for syrup, we return the barrels to Starlight where they work their
magic,” Jennifer said. Bottles of barrel-aged syrup and maple-aged whiskey were both for sale at the 2022 Maple Syrup Festival. The festival continues to be the highlight of the maple farm’s busy year, with attendance reaching over 12,000 for the two weekends in late February and early March. This year will mark the festival’s 32nd year. A celebration of the rustic lifestyle is at the heart of the festival. The drive there leads through some remote backcountry. The farm, located in a valley tucked between two hills, offers tours intended to help visitors take in the scenes associated with maple syrup production – from the woods where the tubing runs like intricate spider webs between the trees to the sugar house with its billowing steam. Depending on the weather, the visitor might also encounter some old-fashioned country mud. Handcrafted and homegrown products – furniture, pottery, wines, leather, glass and more – are showcased and sold by over 40 vendors in a panoply of color, texture, craftsmanship and delight. Traditional music of the banjo, dulcimer, harmonica, fiddle and guitar can be heard from the stage. Children’s games and activities abound. A celebration of the rustic lifestyle is at the heart of the festival. The drive there leads through some remote backcountry. The farm, located in a valley tucked between two hills, offers tours of scenes associated with maple syrup production. Pictured: (left hand page) LM Sugarbush Maple Syrup is one of the largest producers of maple syrup in Indiana, producing between 500 and 700 gallons per year; (this page, from top) matriarch Leane Whitaker sells syrup at the 2022 festival; Entertainers at the 2022 festvial, the Cowboy Posse. Southern Indiana Living • Jan/Feb 2023 • 19
- Page 1 and 2: Southern Indiana Jan / Feb 2023 Liv
- Page 3 and 4: M L IN THE WOODS Merry Ledges event
- Page 5 and 6: Southern Indiana Living JAN / FEB 2
- Page 7 and 8: Walking in a Winter Wonderland Cory
- Page 9 and 10: Now there’s a new way to get arou
- Page 11 and 12: A Note to Baby Boomers Yours for th
- Page 13 and 14: cancer patients called “Look Good
- Page 15 and 16: “It’s the most humbling busines
- Page 17: The fire, emitting less heat than j
- Page 21 and 22: The highlight of the festival is na
- Page 23 and 24: of Smith’s art for decades. She e
- Page 25 and 26: Let us HeLp protect Your dreAms. Br
- Page 27 and 28: Real Life Nutrition 2023 - The Year
- Page 29 and 30: It’s Time! Senior Care Reimagined
- Page 31 and 32: IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER A Sweet Cho
magic,” Jennifer said.<br />
Bottles of barrel-aged syrup and<br />
maple-aged whiskey were both for<br />
sale at the 2022 Maple Syrup Festival.<br />
The festival continues to be the<br />
highlight of the maple farm’s busy<br />
year, with attendance reaching over<br />
12,000 for the two weekends in late<br />
<strong>Feb</strong>ruary and early March. This year<br />
will mark the festival’s 32nd year.<br />
A celebration of the rustic lifestyle<br />
is at the heart of the festival. The<br />
drive there leads through some remote<br />
backcountry. The farm, located<br />
in a valley tucked between two hills,<br />
offers tours intended to help visitors<br />
take in the scenes associated with<br />
maple syrup production – from the<br />
woods where the tubing runs like intricate<br />
spider webs between the trees<br />
to the sugar house with its billowing<br />
steam. Depending on the weather,<br />
the visitor might also encounter some<br />
old-fashioned country mud.<br />
Handcrafted and homegrown<br />
products – furniture, pottery, wines,<br />
leather, glass and more – are showcased<br />
and sold by over 40 vendors in<br />
a panoply of color, texture, craftsmanship<br />
and delight. Traditional music of<br />
the banjo, dulcimer, harmonica, fiddle<br />
and guitar can be heard from the<br />
stage. Children’s games and activities<br />
abound.<br />
A celebration of the rustic lifestyle is at the heart<br />
of the festival. The drive there leads through<br />
some remote backcountry. The farm, located in<br />
a valley tucked between two hills, offers tours of<br />
scenes associated with maple syrup production.<br />
Pictured: (left hand page) LM Sugarbush Maple Syrup is one of the largest producers of maple syrup in <strong>Indiana</strong>, producing between 500 and 700 gallons per year; (this page, from top)<br />
matriarch Leane Whitaker sells syrup at the 2022 festival; Entertainers at the 2022 festvial, the Cowboy Posse.<br />
<strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>Living</strong> • <strong>Jan</strong>/<strong>Feb</strong> <strong>2023</strong> • 19
Change language