As winter comes to a close and the spring season is upon us, several local farms have been busy tapping trees, collecting sap, boiling, making products and preparing for the annual Maple Weekends.

Wolf Maple Products, 9355 Chestnut Ridge Road, Middleport, is one of four farms around Niagara and Orleans County that will be opening its doors for the annual Maple Weekends. They will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and March 27 and 28.

Wolf and her husband, Jason, began making maple syrup 8 years ago. After buying the farm and moving in, Jason decided he wanted to start tapping maple trees. She said Jason made syrup as a child and had an interest in trying it again.

Wolf Maple Products has been making syrup products commercially for 6 1/2 years and this will be its fifth Maple Weekend.

“We’ve grown every year,” Wolf said. “Each year we like to come up with something new and different.”

This year, those attending can take a tram ride into the midst of the trees to see and learn how the tubing system works, see how the Native Americans first made syrup, view a tree tapping demonstration and taste some of the many products available.

Wolf said there will be maple ice cream, maple onion dip, maple cheesecake, maple candy, granulated maple sugar, maple cotton candy, maple hot dogs and maple popcorn. A craft corner will also be set up with Easter and maple crafts and items.

“Our products are different than most places,” she said. “We like to do different things that not everyone does.”

The band “All Strings Considered” will be performing from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Wolf said that every year they get regulars who will bring a chair and sit and listen to the music.

Another favorite for those attending is the presence of the Lakeview Animal Sanctuary. Wolf said that, weather permitting, Sandi Pfohl will bring her goats, lamas, ponies and other animals out for people to pet and feed. She also brings Tom the turkey to greet visitors.

“We like doing this for other families,” Wolf said.

The mother of four, Wolf said she understands and knows what it is like to try and do something that is inexpensive but still fun.

On Sunday, a pancake breakfast and Chinese auction will be held at the Middleport Fire Hall on Main Street, to support Boy Scout Troop No. 23 and No. 18 and Cub Scout Pack No. 23. The cost is $6 for adults and $4 for children age 5 to 12. Wolf Maple Products will provide the syrup.

In what has become a favorite home-made product not only in Western New York but around the country and the world, the local maple syrup industry is growing and has room for more. “In New York state alone, only one percent of maple trees are currently being tapped,” Wolf said.

“There is room for growth,” she said. “There is always room for another farm.”

According to Wolf, each year more and more people are looking to purchase “all-natural, local products.” She calls her products a “healthy alternative.” By inviting people out to her farm, they can learn about the product and see exactly where it comes from, she said. Wolf also doesn’t mind that her children use the product on different food items because she knows it is healthy and natural.

Like Wolf, Pat Laubisch of Flyway Farms agrees that in the past few years, people have wanted to buy local food.

“Maple syrup is a pure and natural product,” Laubisch said.

Located just down the road from Wolf Maple Products is Flyway Farms, 10888 West Shelby Road, Medina. Owned by Laubisch and her husband, Terry, Flyway Farms is one of the founding farms that began participating in maple weekends 15 years ago.

With 867 trees tapped, the two are looking forward to having visitors once again.

“We meet a lot of nice people,” Laubisch said. “We look forward to seeing our old friends and meeting new people.”

Flyway Farms will also be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and March 27 and 28.

Each year the Laubischs like to come up with a new product to have available, and this year it will be maple-coated dog bones. They will also be serving maple coffee, and have syrup, cream, sugars, nuts and other products for tasting and sale.

Two pancake breakfasts will be held Sunday using Flyway Farms syrup.

From 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Shelby Volunteer Fire Company, Route 62 and Shelby Center, will hold its 11th annual all-you-can-eat breakfast. Food will also be served from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Hartland Volunteer Fire Company, 8945 Ridge Road, Gasport.

Offering a trip back into the olden days, Schumacher Farms, 10217 Mill Road, Medina, will demonstrate how maple syrup is made in a traditional wood evaporator in its sugar house.

“It’s what we’re known for,” said Bob Schumacher. “It’s why people like to come and see our farm.”

He said people like to experience the old-fashioned feel, with the farm animals and the wood evaporator.

Bob and his wife, Kathy, began making syrup 10 years ago for themselves. They said they shared a quart with a friend, who liked it, and soon they began sharing it with others. This will be the third time that they will open up their farm for the Maple Weekends.

“We get a little bigger every year,” Bob said.

Making maple syrup was something that Bob’s grandfather did and when they bought the farm, he decided to give it a try.

Schumacher Farms will offer sugar, maple jelly, syrup, cookies and other sweet products.

“We enjoy socializing,” Bob said. “We love hearing stories. Our whole family comes out and helps.”

Cindy Chapman of Humble Health Gardens will be at the farm, selling goat milk soap and hand creams.

Schumacher Farms will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Visit maple4u.wordpress.com for more information about the farm.

Also hoping to share a rustic and old-fashioned experience is Maple Grove Farm of Clarendon. Owner Debra Day said those who visit her farm will experience how syrup was made by the Native Americans, how a tree is tapped, log rolling and other interactive activities that the entire family can enjoy.

They will also offer a granulated sugar demonstration and have tastings of their cream, sugar and syrup products, along with sap dogs and cotton candy.

This year will be the 14th year the farm has participated in the Maple Weekends.

“It’s such a nice things to share with the community,” Day said. “It’s a good time.”

Day and her family has owned the farm since 1846. Her children now make up the sixth generation to live on the farm. When her and her sister, Sandy Shay, were children they remembered a sugar house in the back of the property. In 1996 a new sugar house was built and they have been making syrup ever since.

Maple Grove Farm of Clarendon, 4394 S. Holley Road, Holley, will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both weekends. A pancake breakfast will be held at the Holley Rod and Gun Club, Pumping Station Road, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 27 and 28.

Visit www.mapleweekend.com for more information about all participating farms.

Contact reporter Rikki Cason at 798-1400, ext. 8227.