DaveB
03-02-2008, 05:38 PM
My wife is from Illinois and we had a family emergency that brought be out here this weekend. When things were over, we had some free time and decided to take a drive to Illinois' largest maple syrup producer Funks Grove in Funks Grove, IL.
I spoke with the 'master sugarer' (didn't get his name) and he said that today was the first boiling that they have done this season. They just started tapping a couple weeks ago. Funks Grove is located on Route 66 (actually, between Route 66 and I-55) just south of Bloomington, IL. It might be one of the few sugaring operations that you can view from an interstate! Apparently, they have been sugaring in the same family at the same location since the late 1800s. It's a historic stop on Route 66.
They had a pretty decent operation: 5x16 oil fired arch w/steamaway, RO and vacuum. He said that they have about 5-7,000 taps which was more than I was expecting in the middle of the Illinois prairie. He said that it is hard to find groves that stay on their pickup route, which I think can pretty large. Around their sugarhouse they had a large grove of buckets, but I guess the rest of their groves have tubing. He said they make about 1,000 - 1,500 gallons of syrup (they spell it Sirup).
Anyway, I thought I would report on a visit to one of our kindred spirits on the prairie. Its neat to see different operations, especially on the edge of where syrup can be produced. It was also neat to see something that you wouldn't associate with Route 66.
Dave
I spoke with the 'master sugarer' (didn't get his name) and he said that today was the first boiling that they have done this season. They just started tapping a couple weeks ago. Funks Grove is located on Route 66 (actually, between Route 66 and I-55) just south of Bloomington, IL. It might be one of the few sugaring operations that you can view from an interstate! Apparently, they have been sugaring in the same family at the same location since the late 1800s. It's a historic stop on Route 66.
They had a pretty decent operation: 5x16 oil fired arch w/steamaway, RO and vacuum. He said that they have about 5-7,000 taps which was more than I was expecting in the middle of the Illinois prairie. He said that it is hard to find groves that stay on their pickup route, which I think can pretty large. Around their sugarhouse they had a large grove of buckets, but I guess the rest of their groves have tubing. He said they make about 1,000 - 1,500 gallons of syrup (they spell it Sirup).
Anyway, I thought I would report on a visit to one of our kindred spirits on the prairie. Its neat to see different operations, especially on the edge of where syrup can be produced. It was also neat to see something that you wouldn't associate with Route 66.
Dave