Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  We have an unbelievable new treat today.  Last fall while working at the Big E in Springfield MA  we were told about putting maple cream on plain donuts (the kind that are usually filled).  Market Basket did a special order for us and we picked them up at 8 am.  So they are fresh and fluffy and generously frosted with maple cream.  Of course we had to try them this morning and OMG.  Scrumptious! We’ll be selling them while they last for 1.50 ea.  We only got 2 dozen as a trial run to see what you all think.

Maple Cream Frosted Donuts

So how many of you have broken out the shorts and shades?  This is just such strange weather. But we’re looking forward to a chill tonight and maybe a freeze.  Earlier this week we ended up with some more Grade A Dark and some Grade B.  So those of you that have been waiting for “B”, we’ll have plenty packaged this weekend.

We got our order of mini ice cream cones in so we’ll be filling those up with Y-U-M-M-Y maple cream for the weekend too.  Hours will be 11 am to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday March 17th and 18th.

What a N-I-C-E surprise to see the sugar snow this morning.  Although it also drove our crazy squirrel to come back and try and chew her way into our house again this winter.  The trees have been gushing sap for the last two days so we have lots to boil.  Brian was up and out to collect before 6 am this morning to get to the trees he couldn’t collect yesterday.

For those of you who are looking for Dark Amber syrup we do have it now.  Still haven’t gotten into producing Grade B yet.  We also have Maple Taffy ( la Tire) for those who are looking for that treat.

Hours will be 11 am to 4 pm both days this weekend.

This week we’ve made some Dark Amber syrup.  The sap ran yesterday so Brian will be collecting and boiling today.  For those who are looking for Maple Taffy (la Tire), we have some of that too.

Hours this weekend will be 11am to 4 pm Sat and Sun.

We’ll be boiling both days.

The news from the rounds this morning is that we will have sap and be boiling all day today.  The mild temperatures and the bit of sun that poked out late yesterday gave the trees a nudge and there is sap out there.  Brian started collecting about 7:30 this morning and will collect until after 11 to get as much as possible in before we open today.  Hours today will be 12 – 4 pm.

Not everyone is too happy about this snow but we’ll take it for the chilling effect it will have on the trees.  We’ve been boiling and packing syrup most of the week along with making more maple cream and candy.  We will be open both days this weekend.

Hours  Sat 3/3          12-4 pm              We won’t be boiling.

             Sun 3/4          12-4 pm               We may be boiling depending on the weather on Sat.

So far so good for the maple season.  We’ve made both Light and Medium amber syrup and have a complete assortment of sizes available.  With any luck we’ll get a touch of the promised ‘sugar’ snow tonight.  We were disappointed to have missed a touch of the storm that went south over the weekend.  But it got cool and we should see some more sap flow tomorrow and Thursday.

Hours this weekend will be 12-4 pm Sat and Sun and we should be boiling both days.

The season is at hand. Brian started tapping on Monday and we had our first boil on Tuesday.  A full week earlier than last year.  So all week he’s been working on getting more buckets out.  It ran well yesterday and he just finished boiling again tonight.  We’ve had lots of folks asking over the last 2 weeks  about the effect that no snow will have on the season.  Brian’s usual remark is “I’ll tell you in April.”  We have had seasons with no snow and done ok so it’s anyones guess.  Mostly it’s the weather patterns now that will dictate how it turns out.  We are happy for the cold snap coming.  It’s good roller coaster weather we need for the next month.  Here’s a shot of a typical old maple we have tapped already.