Here we are again--the lucky ones who are able to look back on the year and express great thanks, ponder great lessons, and plan for the year ahead. This year was full of twists and turns, pleasant surprises, some not-so-pleasant surprises, and new frontiers.

In the great thanks category, we are grateful for the opportunities 2018 gave us to expand the public knowledge base of artisanal Whole Maple syrups in the media, we are grateful for the ability to invest in expanding our tree count and processing capacity, and most of all, we are grateful for the enthusiastic support of YOU. YOU are the happy tasters, gift-givers, sellers, sap-house-helpers, information spreaders, partner-spotters, cheerleaders, idea-developers, collaborators, and dear friends of us and of authentic, artisanal creations. YOU are what make this frontier a happy one to live upon, and we send you our great thanks.

Great lessons are always learned every year. Sometimes they come from hitting walls, but there is some humor in that as well. Great lessons this year…doors closed may actually be guide-rails directing you in a better direction. Optimism is the helium in one’s balloon…keep fueling it and you’ll travel far, or at least have an even nicer view. An unwatched pot will sometimes burn. “It never hurts to ask!” which led us to a very nice addition of forests to the farms. Life is fragile and every aspect and everyone must be treasured on an hourly basis. Not everything is forever. Like I said, lots of lessons. We’ll carry this knowledge forward with us into 2019.

Great plans are always fun, and this is the most fun time of year to be planning. We will be launching a new 8-ounce size of our RAW Whole Maple Syrup, which we’ve never offered before! Watch for this in the coming weeks. RAW Whole Maple is super cool (pardon the pun), as it is a “never boiled” product. It is created over approximately 3-days on induction heat at low temperatures, with no de-foaming involved. The results taste pretty amazing, and previously were only offered in our specialty gift sets given the very low volume. Other great plans include some modest upgrades to our sap house to make processing more comfortable and productive, and new partnerships to grow our friends and neighbors. Proceeding with optimism, we will be happy to make even modest gains.

So here we go, ready to head into 2019! May you safely ring out 2018, and happily sing in 2019. We are so grateful to be on this ride with each and every one of you!