Photos by Jim Tate Dan Wambeke, Sr., left, and his son Dan Wambeke, Jr. are shown next to the evaporator in their “Sugar Shack,” where they make maple syrup

For Dan Wambeke, Jr. and his father, Dan, Sr., making maple syrup is something that brings the entire family together.

Wambeke, Jr. lives on Silver Leaf Farm, where he grew up. It’s located one mile east of Green Valley. Wambeke, Sr. moved to Marshall several years ago.

Silver Leaf Farm is named after the type of maple trees that are tapped for their sap, then made into maple syrup. It is sold primarily at the Marshall Farmers Market.

“Silver Maples growns in clumps around here, there’s not a lot of woods. It’s usually lines and clumps in groves,” said Wambeke, Jr.

He became interested in syrup-making when he lived in St. Paul and he and his wife, Joy, attended a demonstration at Fort Snelling State Park. “There was just us two and the ranger. I got to thinking, you know, dad has got some maple trees on his farm. The next week I was drilling holes in the trees.”

And two years later, he was living on the farm.

“It’s a hobby and gets the family involved,” said Wambeke, Sr., about the operation, which has been going for 13 years.

Tapping the trees usually begins in March, “but last year it was on February 1 and it’s been as late as April,” said Wambeke, Jr.

“The best condition is when it freezes at night and then thaws, that moves the (sap),” said Wambeke, Sr.

The amount of syrup they make annually can vary, depending on the weather. “Two years ago we barely got any,” said Wambeke, Jr. “I think we were sold out for the season after being at the Farmers Market just one time. Once the leaf buds start swelling the sap stops, the tree puts its resources into leafing out.”

Wambeke, Jr. is an engineering consultant for Securing Financial Group in St. Paul and works remotely. He’s happy to have his four children contribute to the syrup-making — Ana, 18; Toby, 15; Claire, 13; and Grace, 9.

“We moved here 18 years ago, when Ana was born,” he said.

Their “sugar shack” where the sap is made into syrup is an old granary building on the farm site. It’s been renovated inside, and a statue of St. Joseph, patron saint of workers and obtained from the original St. Clotilde Catholic Church building in Green Valley, is mounted on a platform in a corner, overseeing the operation.

“The first batch was inedible,” said Wambeke, Jr., about that initial effort. “We were doing things outside. It got a little better. The thing about syrup making here versus, say, Wisconsin, is that there’s not a culture for it here, there’s no mentors. It was a trial-and-error process.”

In an average year they’ll collect between 4,000 and 4,500 gallons of sap, which will make about 100 gallons of syrup. “It’s about a 40-to-1 ratio,” said Wambeke, Jr.

The syrup is between 180 and 190 degrees when it’s bottled in the Sugar Shack, and the bottles range from 8 ounces up to a half gallon. The sap, which comes out of the tree at about 2 percent sugar, is boiled to get rid of water, and becomes syrup when it is at 66.7 percent sugar, said Wambeke, Jr. He’s installed a reverse osmosis system