MEDINA, Ohio — After returning home from Iraq in 2008, Bret Gavlak found peace between the branches of maple trees and the snow that covered their roots — sap would be his solace.
Bret and Carly Gavlak started to make maple syrup after a neighbor inspired them to produce a small sugaring operation. Years later, they would start Ravine’s Edge Maple Farm, named after maple trees that line a ravine on the property.
Today, they collect sap from roughly 50 acres and have almost 1,000 trees tapped.
“The process in general I just think is amazing, to be able to pull something out of a tree and be able to make it into a consumable product and sell it — that’s the coolest thing,” Carly said.
A new beginning
Bret was raised in Spencer, Ohio in southern Medina County and worked on his neighbor’s farm growing up. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Marines and was deployed to Iraq twice between 2004 and 2008 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The Gavlaks moved back to Medina, Ohio in 2008. Bret’s first experience making maple syrup was with their next-door neighbor who made maple syrup in his driveway using a homemade evaporator. This experience inspired Bret to make his own syrup.
“I said to myself, whenever I get enough land, I want to do that,” Bret said. In 2013, a property in Medina with 10 acres of woods and a host of maple trees went up for sale.
The Gavlaks started small by tapping a few maple trees. They boiled sap in an old barrel in the driveway with warming trays and an umbrella for cover. According to Carly, maple syrup was Bret’s post-war escape.
As the years went on, so too did the demand from family and friends and their ambition for maple syrup making.
“It was exciting to see our community actually want homemade products,” Carly said, which led the couple to tap more maple trees. But their small-time operation wasn’t sustainable for higher quantities of sap. So, the couple bought an evaporator in 2018, and Bret and his dad Don started constructing a sugarhouse around it.
The sugarhouse only consisted of a roof when they boiled sap in the evaporator for the first time. It was completed after the sugar season was over.
Since then, the sugarhouse has developed into a family affair; the Galvaks’ kids — ages 11, 13 and 20 — will often bring in cots and hang out as Bret and Carly cook. Their oldest daughter is currently serving in the Marines and is stationed in San Diego, California.
The Galvaks’ children also raise bunnies and goats as part of the Chatham Farmers 4-H club, and the family raises chickens.
Growing the business
Starting out as a new business, competing with generational maple farms was a challenge, Carly said, but the most difficult part was growing their customer base. To do this, the Galvaks started selling their maple syrup at Medina and Seven Hills Farmers Markets in the summer of 2018.
Bret and Carly also began expanding the products they sell from seasonings infused with maple sugar and teas flavored with syrup to organic beauty products like soaps, lotions and lip balms.
Eventually, the couple transitioned away from the farmer’s markets and started selling their products in Medina’s Farmers Exchange. They opened their own store, Common Ground, in 2022 and sold their product there for two years. Currently, the Galveks and a family friend are working on opening a store in Medina’s Market 42 called Handmade Haven.
The store will sell products from 50 different small businesses, including art from local artisans and farm products from local producers. Ready-to-go food and drinks will also be for sale including fresh baked goods, ice cream, Mexican food and a wine bar. Carly hopes to have the store up and running in the summer.
As Ravine’s Edge enters a new era, Bret reflects on what got him here in the first place: a needed escape after Iraq, nature’s comforting hand and the magic of maple syrup.
“This time of year, there’s not a lot to do outside and you’re stuck in the house. (Maple syrup) gets you outside and keeps me busy. You’re constantly focusing on something that has to be done. If it’s not watching the gauge to make sure it is at the right temperature, it’s bringing more wood in or pumping sap into the holding tank,” Bret said.
Ravine’s Edge will be participating in Ohio’s 2025 Maple Madness Tour on March 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and March 2 from noon to 4 p.m. at the sugarhouse, 220 N State Road Unit 32, Medina, Ohio. For more information, visit www.ravinesedge.com.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
