Sweet Success: Minnesota Man Turns Camp into Syrup Goldmine

MAGIC MAN!

How do you end up in the Maple Syrup Hall of Fame?

A man in Otter Tail County has just made the illustrious list.

According to an online article, Stu Peterson was inducted into the International Maple Museum Hall of Fame in 2024.

You may not have heard of Stu before, but you MAY have tasted his amazing syrup. He has won multiple blue ribbons all across the United States, and his syrup has been used in a local brewery.

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NO EXPERIENCE TO 'KNOW' EXPERIENCE

What's amazing to me is that Stu is a city kid. Before selling his home and buying the property where he now taps approximately 1,000 trees to make his amazing syrup, he had absolutely no experience making maple syrup.

"You don't go to school for maple syruping in Minnesota. You can out east, but not here," he said.

Stu was convinced by friends to sell his home and buy some property that was formerly a boy's camp called Camp Aquila. So he sold his home and bought the land.

"That first year was buyer's remorse. What have we done? It's way too big. But it's the best thing we ever did," Stu said.

WCCO CBS News/YouTube

THERE'S GOLD IN THEM THERE TREES!

Lucky for Stu, the Department of Natural Resources informed him that the property could be turned into a maple syrup operation, and Stu quickly figured it out.

Stu taps around 1,000 trees on his property, with around 30 gallons of collected sap to make just one bottle of syrup.

According to the article, last year, Stu was able to tap trees in the middle of February, and it takes about 3 weeks to set everything up. Then, the sap starts flowing. It is taken into a sugarhouse and run through an evaporator. "It's boiling and boiling, and it gets more and more concentrated as it travels down this river," said Stu.

WHAT ARE THE INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE A GREAT MAPLE SYRUP?

What are the ingredients in Stu's maple syrup? "That is the key to maple syrup. We are adding nothing," he said.

Stu says that his mission is to help other people who want to learn the craft of making maple syrup and to teach them how to do it right.

'Camp Aquila Pure Maple Syrup' is sold in Minneapolis - St. Paul, Otter Tail, and Becker counties, as well as in and around Fargo-Moorhead.

Georgia Heisserer
Fun and easy!

Marlene Carlin
Awesome story Stu Peterson!!! Thanks for being the mentor you are!

Deb 'Muffy' Marvin
Hey Stu!! Love your syrup!

David Schultz
Thanks for sharing . Interesting

Ashley Marie
I need to get some. Yum.

Joyce Lévêsque
Nothing better than that smell!

Alex Rethemeier
The best and for me it’s local!

Pat Nendick
Great story! We watched it and were surprised it was in Dent!
My husband’s family settled at Star Lake many years ago!

Justine Jacobson
Jake Nordlund

Farm Direct Minnesota
I read about this today. Great story!

Kathy Wood
Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center also makes and sells their own maple syrup. Yum!!!

Nancy Johnson Stonehouse
Awesome!

John Richards
So nice to see. Congratulations

Robin-David Fleiner
Great story!

Cheryl Rae Johnson Anderson
Anne Hartley Anderson Jane Hartley Kingston I sure hope the SUG is in this Hall of Fame!

Alicia Melby
Bob Firth hey your in the news !

Dan O'Boyle
Stu! Your famous buddy!!

Pam Moore Price
Great to see you guys & this story, amazing! William Moore & Lucy Moore saw a promo for this story & gave us a heads up.

A Johann McTavish
Neat. I'll still buy Canadian maple syrup because it's awesome, and I want to hurt the American economy.

Brad Johns
See, we don’t need Canada!