Fridays on the Farm: Producing Maple, Lumber, and Heritage Sheep at Sweet Sourland Farms
Tucked within the Sourland Mountain region, Charlize and her wife, Bru, have a diverse operation, including a thriving maple syrup business, a pine lumber mill, and the recent addition of the rare heritage breed of Barbados Black Belly Sheep.
This Friday meet Charlize Katzenbach, owner and operator of Sweet Sourland Farms in Hopewell, New Jersey. Tucked within the Sourland Mountain region, Charlize and her wife, Bru, have a diverse operation, including a thriving maple syrup business, a pine lumber mill, and the recent addition of the rare heritage breed of Barbados Black Belly Sheep. At 73 years old, and after more than 45 years of farming, Charlize is still having "as much fun as a barrel of monkeys."
Starting Sweet Sourland
Charlize and Bru started Sweet Sourland Farms in 1984 when they sold their Pennsylvania farm and moved back to the pine tree-riddled land of Charlize’s childhood. After clearing much of it to create pasture for meat goats, their forester helped them realize an opportunity for their red and sugar maples. In 1989, the couple started producing syrup, with less than desirable results.
"We couldn't sell it," Charlize said. "Nobody wanted to buy our syrup because it was from New Jersey. They would say, 'I get my syrup from Vermont. They don’t make maple syrup in New Jersey.'"