Miller is an old name in Bovina, with the first Miller, David, arriving around 1815 from the Scottish Borders. Millers owned, resided, and/or leased on Miller Avenue from 1832 to 1973. Miller Avenue is a 1 1/2 mile town road connecting Bramley and Lee Hollow to County Rt. 6 and the Bovina Center hamlet.
In 1832, William Miller, the brother of David, took a lease on a section of land, approximately 144 acres from Edward P. Livingston. His rent included 20 bushels of wheat, two fowls and one day riding (basically a day of labor on the Livingston estate). In 1859, Miller purchased the property from Livingston’s heir, Louisa Livingston for $575. In April of 1862, the property ownership fell to William’s sons, William Junior and Berry Shaw Miller. The property descended through to Berry Shaw Miller’s grandson, Mural O. Miller, who was a second cousin of Anna Bell Barnhart LaFever. In 1973, it was sold out of the Miller family until 1999 when it was purchased by Duane LaFever, a third great-grandson of William Miller and grandson of Anna Bell Barnhart LaFever.
Duane and his wife Karen, along with their two sons, Cody & Cullen, continue an ancestral family tradition by producing Maple Syrup on the 104-acre property. Remnants of the original sugar house foundation can still be seen today, as well as the barn, and rock foundation of what was an old home. Daffodils still come up in the spring around the foundation stones.
From the 2450 taps on the property, Maplewood Farm & Orchard produces 100% pure maple syrup, maple candies and smooth as silk maple cream, as well as many other delicious products such as peppered maple mustard, maple apple pumpkin spread, candied nuts, granola, lollipops, cotton candy, oatmeal and buttermilk pancake mixes. Karen hand makes these products in her certified Confectionery Kitchen and Gift Shoppe in Delhi. In joint production with maple products, the LaFevers also tend an Apple Orchard. There are 25 varieties to pick including Macintosh, Macon, Honeycrisp & Wellington, just to name a few.
The Sugar House and Pumpkin & Apple Orchard U-Pick are open weekends 10 am-4 pm Sept. 19th – Oct 12th
Family Farm Day 10 am – 4 pm Saturday August 27th, 2022
Maple Weekends 10 am – 4 pm March 18-19, 2023
10 am – 4 pm March 25-26, 2023
Visit our Confectionery Kitchen and Shoppe at
74 Meredith Street, Delhi, NY 13753
or our Sugar House at
596 Miller Avenue, Bovina Center, NY 13740
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaplewoodFarmOrchard
Click here to learn more about how Maple Syrup is made.