By Davic Lillard

West Virginia was once a leading producer of maple syrup. Today, even though 80 percent of the Mountain State is covered with hardwoods—about 110,000 square miles of them—West Virginia barely registers in syrup production. Neal Super’s Mountain State Maple is starting a homegrown sugarin’ renaissance here in the relative flatlands of Jefferson County. In February, when the days are warming but the nights are still cold, it’s sugaring time in our region. Unlike many sap tappers, solitary figures working sugar stands in a secluded hollow, for Super it’s a chance to visit the neighbors whose trees are an integral part of his enterprise. It started a few years ago when the Supers noticed Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers feasting on the nectar from the four large sugar maples in their front yard.

“I became a hobby syrup maker immediately,” said Super. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup, so those four trees supplied only enough syrup to be shared as gifts with family and friends. Then Super started pondering all the other untapped larger sugar maples nearby. You can see sugar maples everywhere; it’s the state tree, after all. But large stands are rare in these parts.

At about that time Johni Anderson called Super to buy a rain barrel. When he found out Super was sugaring, he offered up the trees at Springdale Farm, which, Super says, “is loaded with sugar maples.” Anderson and Super became partners in the county’s first syrup venture, and with spring 2009 taps were hanging from Springdale Farm’s maples. The site of all those taps at Springdale Farm piqued the interest of neighbors, and soon one of Anderson’s neighbors offered up their trees. And the tree circle continues to grow. Mountain State Maple now sells syrup at Shepherdstown Farmers Market.

In 2009, Super increased production, “still in very small quantities,” Super adds, but large enough to see he was on to something. This year they hope to tap 50 trees. Sounds like a lot, but on a good day, says Super, a tree will put out three gallons or more of sweet water. If the weather stays just right—freezing nights and warm days—a tree might give up enough for a gallon, maybe two, in a season. It’s a micro enterprise by any stretch. But it fits in well with the primary theme of the rest of Super’s enterprise: maple. Mountain State Maple Company is a small producer of woodcraft as well as syrup. As with sugaring, Super is self-taught in the world of wood. His hand-crafted objects are created mostly from hardwoods that are found, reclaimed, or, as Super puts it, “rescued.” Super’s wood creations are available at Westwind Potters, in Harpers Ferry and O’Hurleys General Store in Shepherdstown. He makes jewelry like pendants, pins, bracelets, rings, and earrings; and household objects like candle holders, wine accessories, cutting boards and platters. Super says Mountain State Maple’s syrup prospects are limited only by the number of sugar maples he can tap. And with today’s “buy local” appeal for homegrown, unprocessed foods, Mountain State Maple is looking for more good neighbors.