By Shannon Hegy

WESTFIELD, Mass. (WGGB) -- Life is sweet at Pomeroy Sugar House.

"Delicious," said Ben Brody of Southampton.  "The pancakes weigh two or three pounds a piece!"

But the pancakes are hardly the reason these diners are smiling.  Instead, it's what's on top of them.

Every year, for the past 13 years, the Pomeroy Sugar House has opened its doors so that diners can get a taste of liquid gold, otherwise known as pure maple syrup.  The syrup is produced right on the farm, a process that is long and tedious.

"It's very intensive," said Jim Pomeroy. 

Tapping the tree may only take a few seconds, but it takes an entire day for one gallon of sap to flow from the tree.

Forty gallons are needed to produce just one gallon of syrup.

That sap is then boiled for six to eight hours on a wood fired evaporator, a process diners at Pomeroy's can see for themselves.  The syrup is then bottled and sold at the sugar house.

Sugaring season may only last for a short eight weeks, but Jim Pomeroy says it generates a third of the farm's yearly revenue.

"It's nice to have a little bit of cash flow that we lose in the dairy industry," said Pomeroy.

Sweet success for the farm, and a sweet escape for the diners.

"You've got your normal restaurants where you can get your bacon, egg and cheese, whatever you want," said Karl Tower of Ludlow, "but this here, it makes it special."

Pomeroy Sugar House is located on Russellville Road in Westfield.  It's open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. through April 11.