In New England Maple Month is March. When the nights are still below freezing but the days get warmer the sap begins to flow, and those with a livelihood in maple sugaring get moving to capitalize on the short five-six week season.

In the reverse of fall where peak foliage hits northern New England first and then moves south, the maple-sugaring season begin in Connecticut and Massachusetts before heading to Vermont and New Hampshire. Just like knowing when peak fall will hit, it’s difficult for a farmer to predict when the taps should be drilled – they rely on experience and their sense and feel for the weather changes.

In New England maple sugaring places can run the gamut from small farms with real basic bucket and cast iron pots for gear, to places with large commercial equipment aimed at producing significant amounts of syrup and sugar for candy. But the quality of the syrup is more about the trees and how clean the equipment and filtering process is rather than who has the most expensive apparatus.

Maple sap starts out as approximately 98% water and 2% sugar out of the tree. By the time the sap is boiled down in the sugarhouse to syrup it’s only 33% water and 67% sugar. It takes approximately 20-40 gallons of sap to make one quart of maple syrup.

If the farmer is producing sugar cone for making candy them the syrup receives further but more controlled heating to reduce the remaining syrup to sugar. Just in case you’ve got a “sweet tooth” yourself and thinking of creating your own raw supply of candy, you need to know it takes about 20 to 30 gallons of sap to get one pound of sugar. So you’d better have a serious number of sugar maple trees in your yard. And if you’re planting them this year to tap next year forget it – it usually takes about forty years before a sugar maple is ready for tapping!

In the meantime why not visit one of the many maple sugar farms in New England that offer visitors a taste of how maple syrup gets from the tree to the table. Here’s the state directories to check out – reservations may be required so call ahead if indicated…

Connecticut:
The State of Connecticut web site has a downloadable Maple Sugarhouse guide that’s a little complicated to find, so I’ve included the link here (you need Adobe Acrobat to read it): http://www.ct.gov/doag/lib/doag/pdf/maple_sugarhouse_06_guide.pdf

Maine:
Maple syrup is big business in Maine, and the Maine Maple Producers Association has a fun web site with a nice animation on the home page. Go check out the animation and the producer’s directory here: http://www.mainemapleproducers.com/

Massachusetts:
The Massachusetts Maple Producers Association has a directory of Sugar Houses in the state. I found it a little difficult to read, but it does contain complete information -
http://www.massmaple.org/members_frames.html

New Hampshire:
The New Hampshire Maple Producers Association web site lists all maple Sugar Houses and special events throughout the season - http://www.nhmapleproducers.com/

Rhode Island:
Rhode Island government site lumps honey and maple producers together. You’ll find addresses and telephone numbers of all producers, and they recommend you call ahead first - http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/bnatres/agricult/sweets.htm

Vermont:
The Vermont Maple Sugar makers’ Association lists Sugar Houses open all year for visits - http://www.vermontmaple.org/Visit.html

So get moving – the sap is flowing!

For more destination and attraction ideas check out my New England vacation site by clicking here.

Look out for another great event this time next week.

Cliff Calderwood
Executive Director
New England Attractions Guide