Syrup maker speaks at Rotary, local farm “taps” into market…..Bulldog champion t-shirts for sale
Louisa, KY — The Louisa Rotary Club met Thursday, March 3, with Vice President, Lindsey Case, presiding in the absence of President, Steve Montgomery.
Member Carlie Hillman, Director of the Lawrence County Public Library, announced the upcoming event, ‘An Evening With Daniel Boone,’ will be held at the library on Thursday, March 10, at 5:00 pm. The event is free and refreshments will be served.
The guest speaker, Keith Moore, of Savage Farms, then spoke to the group. Keith and his wife, Jennifer, own the farm which is located on Rt 3, at the mouth of Little Cat. A beautiful log building with the Savage Farms sign sits directly off the road and is easily accessible. “Everyone always asks why it is called Savage Farms, since our name is Moore” he said, and explained that the farm first belonged to aunt and uncle, Glen and Margie Savage.
The Moores make maple syrup from the red maple trees they tap on their farm. They also make maple candy, maple butter, pecan maple pies, sorghum, and grow berries from which they make jams and jellies. The Moores have been doing this for 20 years, but commercially, have only been producing and selling their products professionally for 3 years.
Moore said Jerri Cossett, owner of nearby 4Gotten Tymes Farm, started the idea of selling their products. “We used to set up a tent and were lucky if we sold $10 worth of stuff” said Moore. Now, with the ever popular Heritage Harvest Tour, of which both farms are a part of, business has grown rapidly. “Agri-Tourism is huge.”
Currently, Savage Farms has 500 taps on their trees. They have a processing area and a commercial kitchen. Moore said there is a misconception that only sugar maples can be tapped for syrup. “A red maple tastes about the same as a sugar maple. The sugar content is about the same.” He said other trees including walnut and even sycamore trees can be tapped to make syrup.
“True sap is just water, it’s not the sticky resin you think of when you think of ‘sap'” Moore said spring is the time to tap trees, and sometimes they can get up to 7 gallons a day. Buckets are not used anymore to catch the sap, instead, a gravity fed tubing system ciphers the sweet liquid into a tank, where it is cooked and made into syrup.
Although Kentucky is not known as a syrup making state, Moore said in a taste test, you couldn’t tell which was the Vermont syrup and which was the KY syrup. “A lady from Vermont told us our syrup would stand up to any Vermont made syrup.”
Savage Farms is one of only three commercial syrup producers in the state, and the only one in eastern Kentucky.
Syrup is the biggest seller at Savage Farms, but a very close second is the maple butter. “Some people put only the maple butter on their pancakes and don’t even use the syrup” said Moore. “We have shipped the maple butter all around the country.”
Keith is a retired state trooper, and both he and his wife, Jennifer work for KDMC. Keith will be retiring from KDMC this year, and plans to work the farm full time. Plans are in the works for a possible restaurant, where customers could come see the syrup being made, and then enjoy it on their pancakes. The Moores are also working with Food City to get the product into the stores.
Moore said syrup making in Kentucky is an “untapped” market. He welcomed folks to come out to the farm and see the process and said he would be happy to teach them how it works.
Both Keith and Jennifer are from Boyd County, but have lived in Lawrence county for a long time now. “We love Lawrence County” said Moore. He said the scenery is beautiful and the potential is great.
To purchase products from Savage Farms or set up a time to see the tree tapping and syrup making, call 605-686-1120 or 606-465-2857, or email keith.moore@kdmc.net. Like Savage Farms on Facebook.
Sherry Compton announced that LCHS Bulldog Basketball District Champion t-shirts could be purchased for $15 S-XL, $17 for 2X and up.
The meeting was then adjourned. The next meeting will be Thursday, March 10, at 12:00 pm at the First Baptist Church in Louisa.