2024 Maple Weekend & More news

Our maple season in Sunapee continues to March on… but the end may be near. We’ve been making syrup since January 29th and we are certainly feeling the end of season burn out. Tyler and crew just had the first night off from boiling in a week due to the cold snap that is bringing as zero degree windchills this morning.

Maple Weekend was amazing once again! We’re guessing that we welcomed at least 700 visitors but most likely more over the course of two days. Saturday was our incredible breakfast/lunch with Scott Brothers Kitchen. They served up pancakes, sausage, eggs, and pulled pork sandwiches. They sold out for the second year in a row, and don’t worry - they’ll be back next year. Our crew of friends and family greeted folks and educated all on the maple process. We couldn’t do it without them!

Now for the maple talk! In 2023, we collected 138,000 gallons of sap and made 2,600 gallons of syrup… which means it took 53 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. The 2024 season is drastically different. To date, we’ve collected 140,000 gallons of sap over a much longer period and made 2,200 gallons of syrup… giving us a ratio of 63 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Mother Nature is not doing us any favors! In general, this means we are working harder and using more resources (labor, firewood, electricity) to make maple syrup all because the trees won’t give us enough sugar. We don’t really know the reason but a few working theories are the excessive rain in 2023 followed by a mild winter with lack of snow and freezing weather. We wouldn’t be farmers if we didn’t retain some optimism; therefore, we’ve continued to add to the total. For the past week, we’ve monitored the sap closely for changes in its chemistry which affects our syrup quality. We’ve seen signs of spring and boiling beyond a certain point will generate off flavors in the syrup. Time will tell and we’ll let you know the results when the season ends.

We continue open house hours on March 23rd and 24th. We are expecting a mixed bag of weather for Saturday (snow/ice/rain/who knows!) and no sap run in the cold weather today. Our retail shop will remain open for maple and beef sales, so if you need an outing… come see us. We expect Sunday to be the better day this weekend and maybe sap will run through the snowstorm.

maple tap count
5,700 Taps

**First Boil - January 29th, 2024**
22 boiling days
**Total Sap Collected so far…**
140,000 Gallons
1.4% Sugar Average
63 Gal sap needed for 1 Gal syrup
**Maple Syrup Total as of 3/21**
2,200 Gallons
**Maple Grades**
Amber Rich, Dark Robust

We’re stocked with various sizes and bottles of Amber Rich and Dark Robust Maple Syrup. Grab your Easter supply of maple candy, granulated sugar and cream! Open hours at the sugarhouse are Saturday and Sunday - 10am till 4:30 pm. Weather will decide how we continue with the season from here.

ALSO - I highly encourage you to join our email newsletter community (entry form at bottom of webpage). This is our only guaranteed way of getting you all the latest info on our farm goods and upcoming events.