Thursday, September 25, 2014

2014 Honey is Here!

Ah, autumn in Minnesota.  The leaves are beginning to change, there's a slight chill in the air, and Honeycrisp apples adorn market shelves.  Time to replace those iced coffees with your favorite hot tea, sweetened with Kopp's Crops Honey!

This year, we are offering our wild flower honey in three sizes: 
  • One pound inverted squeeze bottles for $6
  • New!  Three pound squeeze bottles for $16
  • Five pound value size for $25

Ready to sweeten up your day with Kopp's Crops honey?  Email us at koppscrops@gmail.com to pick up at our farm, ship via USPS, or explore Twin Cities area delivery options. 

In Isanti County this weekend? Look for us at Brenda's Log Cabin Thursday 9/25 - Saturday 9/27 on the Unique Boutique & Antiques Tour:  https://www.facebook.com/UniqueBoutiqueandAntiqueTour

Friday, May 2, 2014

Finally - Syrup for Sale! But for a limited time only...

Maple Syrup for sale! Because of this spring's not-ideal-for-syrupping weather, it's another "Limited Edition" year for Kopp's Crops maple syrup. But if you like your syrup on the darker, stronger-flavor side, you'll love the few bottles we managed to squeak out! We're selling through Brenda's Log Cabin boutique on the Unique Boutique & Antiques Tour in Isanti County this weekend and next. Click on over to the Tour's Facebook Page here  for a map and additional details.  Brenda's Log Cabin is # 10 on the flyer - please note, she's closed Sundays

If you can't make it to the tour, email us at koppscrops@gmail.com to reserve your bottle today (please do not order via the website). Chances of a sell-out by the end of the month are high!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Hope (Of Sap) Springs Eternal

Dear Minnesota:  Do you want to be a serious maple syrup production state or not?  Please decide, and deliver weather accordingly.  With great haste.  Sincerely, Kopp’s Crops and our fellow Minnesota Syrup Producers.

A couple weeks ago we made our annual pilgrimage to Wisconsin for syrupping supplies.  Then yesterday we tapped our first 75 trees, in the hope that the 10 day forecast holds true and we see some sap-loosening temperatures come our way.  We had high hopes coming into 2014; last year we had our most prolific season ever.  Granted, “ever” for us is only five years, but still – it was pretty awesome.  Twenty gallons of golden goodness graced our boiling pan and filters.   At 40 to 1 sap to syrup conversion, that means we collected, carted around, and cooked down around 800 gallons of sap.  The perfect mix of warm days and below-freezing nights kept the sap moving so long that we stopped boiling before the sap ran dry.   But 2012?   A crazy week-long February heat wave took temperatures so far above freezing, even at night, that the sap went shooting for the treetops and never looked back.  Same number of trees, barely a gallon of syrup.

This photo of one of our frozen taps pretty much sums up the 2014 season so far.  A couple of days with just enough warmth to get the sap moving, then BAM - another deep freeze.  In a normal year, we’d be wrapping up the season in the next couple of weeks.  This year, we’re just hoping, still hoping, the sap run starts before it ends.  So what’s it going to be, Minnesota?  A significant syrup season, or straight to summer?