Maple Weekend – Mission Accomplished

What a weekend we had this year.  Beautiful weather both days, despite some wind on Saturday.  We could not have been happier welcoming all the folks who made their way to ours and many other sugarhouse this weekend and the last several during Maple Month.  It just shows that New Hampshire Maple Syrup is holding its own in the hearts of many as a natural and nutritious sweetener for pancakes and so much more.  And we can’t forget the H-U-G-E THANKS we owe to everyone who came for their patience in lines and their consideration in using all the trash baskets.  Not a scrap of trash on the grounds anywhere!  Nicely done folks.  

And heartfelt thanks to our awesome family who can’t be beat!  Mom, who grinds out all those samples you enjoy, Megan at the checkout, Tyler and Kristy on Ice Cream, Lynn, Terry and Kaiya helping with chasing supplies and samples back and forth.  And Simon, who was the wood master, keeping his grandpas wheelbarrow full for boiling all weekend!  We love them all and could not do this without their support.

Best Wishes to All.

Brian and Sue

NH Maple Weekend Open House

March 23rd 10am to 5pm & 24th 10am to 4pm

Once again we look forward to welcoming visitors to our sugarhouse for NH Maple Weekend.  The “tours” we offer are in the sugarhouse and FREE!  Brian goes over the maple production process from start to finish over and over all day long.  So if you come in part way through just wait a bit and he’ll come back to the beginning.  Questions are always welcome anytime.  There are trees tapped close by to check out too, both in the yard and down a short path.  (Boots encouraged for this.) And be sure to check out the Maple Leafs with Maple Trivia questions to test your maple knowledge.

In the store we’ll have a variety of samples of maple products to taste and buy.  And it would not be Maple Weekend without Maple Ice Cream Sundaes.  Those will be on sale too  ($2.00 ea) with your choice of maple walnut ice cream from Blake’s Creamery (made with real maple syrup) or vanilla ice cream for those who’d prefer that, topped with our own fresh maple syrup and real whipped cream.

As always we’ll have a special table set up with some handouts for the adults and kids in the crowd as take-aways from your visit (while supplies last).

PARKING: Crowds can be expected so please park only on the right hand, even numbered side (our side) of Candia Road or on Sheepwash Drive a short walk before you get to our place.  No parking will be allowed on the hill beyond our driveway for safety reasons.  The driveway and parking area are dirt and can be muddy so proper footwear is encouraged.

We accept Visa, Master Card, Discover, American Express and Apple Pay.

For your convenience we do have a Porta-potty on site.

Although it’s not uncommon for us to tap out between Valentines Day and Presidents Day, we’re seeing a cold weather pattern overall. It ran Thursday and Friday last week and allowed us to boil this past weekend. Then surprisingly Brian spent the day battling high winds and collecting sap all day on Monday.  This coming week looks cold into the start of next week.  This will give us a chance to get fresh syrup packed and on the shelves.

Monday March 4th we’re looking forward to joining a crowd for the Governor’s Tree Tapping Ceremony to be held at Intervale Pancake House in Henniker this year.  It’s located right at the foot of Pat’s Peak.  The event is open to the public so feel free to drop by if you get a chance.  It’s a great family event.

It may be officially still winter but spring is on the way.  Brian started tapping today after the serious winds of yesterday have died out.  No fun trying to hang buckets when the wind will blow them down as fast as you can hang them!!! LOL  The New Hampshire Maple Producers Association held our Regional Meeting this past Tuesday and many producers at the meeting had yet to tap out.  But it sounded like we’re all set to get started this week waiting for the next batch of warm weather to get the trees going.

With any luck Brian will be out collecting before the end of the week and we’ll have some sap to boil to sweeten the pans.  We won’t make much if any syrup when that happens because most of the partially concentrated sap stays in the pans to create the various sugar levels of the processing. But it’s still chilly so it’s the wait-and -see game now.

Once we get that going, it’s always good to see and hear the evaporator roaring along with a hot fire and lots of steam rolling off.  The heavenly aroma of maple syrup being boiled is something you never get tired of.  

Happy New Year to All!

Now that we’ve had a few quiet weeks after the holidays, it’s time to start planning for the upcoming sugaring season.  Last Saturday we attended the annual business meeting for the NH Maple Producers Association.  It’s a great opportunity to catch up with our fellow producers to see what’s on everyones mind and what new equipment folks are using to make their operations more efficient with added quality control.  We’re also looking forward to the Regional Meetings that will be hosted around the state so that folks in each region have another opportunity to meet up with other local sugar makers and talk about all things maple.

Once again this year we’ll be participating in NH Maple Month.  It’s a promotional effort sponsored by the NH Maple Producers Assn to help spread the interest in visiting sugar houses out through a few weeks rather than have everyone just dropping in on Maple Weekend.  But don’t worry, we’ll be doing Maple Weekend on March 23rd and 24th just like always so watch for details in early March!

It’s only 8 more days until our Holiday Open House.  Brian has been making wreaths non-stop since his first cutting.  Mom and I have finished making the wreath prototypes for the decorated ones.  It’s always so much fun bringing them to life and enjoying the creative flow from each other as we try to make something fun and festive for folks to enjoy.  Most of you probably don’t know we’ve been making wreaths as long as we’ve been sugaring.  That’s over 27 years!

Brian will cut more greens this week for the rest of the wreaths and swags we need to make.  Waiting to cut until after a hard frost in the north country helps our wreaths hold needles well into the winter.  Most last into early spring if not in direct sun.  So don’t miss out and come by December 1st 9am to 4pm and December 2nd 10am to 4pm.  

We look forward to seeing you then!