Twin Maples Farm
231-223-4494
Fredric and Kay Dohm
16625 Center Road
Traverse City, MI 49686

“I like chaos,” stated Fredric Dohm when discussing his various agricultural businesses – one of which is making maple syrup. “My grandfather made it in the ‘20s and we played around an old pan on an open arch in the 70s,” he said. The recent maple business began just a few years ago after a weak cherry season. “This is our 6th or 7th year,” Dohm said. “My wife threatened that I had to find another job after that cherry season, so I decided to make syrup.”

The Dohm farm, which sits right out on Old Mission Peninsula has produced cherries and apples for the large tourist industry of Traverse City. With many tourists driving out to the wineries nearby, Dohm said he has a prime location to sell his syrup. And he can charge more, too. “People come out here with money in their pockets wanting to spend it on local products.”

The peninsula has an effect on more than just the marketing, though. It also affects the essential climate needed for the sap to flow. “We live by the lake,” Dohm said. “With water all around us, we don’t get to 45 degrees [like producers inland] - only 38 degrees because we’re still surrounded by water, well, ice at that point.” He described the average sap flow as “not surging.” The sap, while it doesn’t flow fast, Dohm said he collects it from a woodlot and roadside trees via plastic tubing.

With cherries and apples to tend to, Twin Maples Farm averages 150 gallons of syrup a year from a 2x8 wood-fired pan. From the 1400 taps last year, Dohm described a disappointing year, “only 120 gallons,” he said, hoping 2006 will be more fruitful.

When asked about other maple products, Dohm stated that they have made some cream in the summer and sold that, but they pretty much stay focused on syrup. “We keep busy with the cherries that time of year,” he said.