2025 Maple Season
One for the record books
It felt more like a traditional winter in New Hampshire for a change. Tapping started in Mid-January, but we took our time in the cold temperatures and didn’t finish until end of February. Our Wilmot woods received an addition of 700 taps last summer/fall, so we were set up for a possible record-breaking season at HHF. At the end of 2024 we received a grant that supported the purchase of a very shiny, new evaporator at the sugarhouse. The previous evaporator moved with us from our historic sugarhouse on Wendell Flats and was pushing 16 years old. Given our growth and need for efficiency in both labor and firewood, a new evaporator was sounding like a good idea. We worked with CDL, a maple equipment supplier, to choose a wood-fired evaporator that fit our size and needs. It arrived from Canada in late 2024, and we worked diligently to get everything retrofitted, installed and plumbed before the 2025 maple season. We collectively held our breath and worked through the first boil on February 27th. All was well and we were off and running. On Saturday, March 1st, we didn’t open to the public but we did welcome quite a crowd of family and friends for a sugarhouse party to celebrate Tyler’s 40th birthday. Folks travelled coast to coast - literally California to Martha’s Vineyard. We are so grateful for the effort our friends made to join us! A great time was had by all with plenty of ‘sugarhouse shots’, a full nacho bar, and kids playing in the snow. Most importantly, our crew collected plenty of sap so Tyler could have a productive boil to show off the new maple rig. The season moved fast and furious shortly thereafter. It was a condensed but productive season and our sap’s sugar content held up a bit better than 2024. Long days and late nights became the norm. The setup and clean up process for the new evaporator is time consuming but the firewood savings is impressive. Tyler and Brendan wrapped up the final boil on Monday, April 14th. Because I know folks will ask… we never moved into the ‘Very Dark’ syrup, which continues to puzzle us for the third season in a row.
Now for the numbers! For all those wondering, we did hit our production goals and even broke a farm record. We collected the most sap in our farm history at over 221,000 gallons. Sap is hauled from 3 locations in Wilmot, Lempster and Newport plus a couple local folks drop of small quantities. For the Wilmot woods alone, we made 131 trips with our truck and 1,000 gallon tank. The sap’s sugar content averaged 1.52% which is an improvement over 2024. At 1.52% sugar, it takes 56.5 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. In 2024, we produced a farm record of 3,000 gallons of syrup… but 2025 was already anticipated to have more taps and more production. We finished the season our with a record 3,630 gallons! Boy does our crew need a round of applause and some serious rest.
It was also a record maple season for sugarhouse and online sales. Words can’t express how much we appreciate folks supporting and stopping by to learn about our passion! It’s hard to even put a number on how many people came through the sugarhouse this season for a tour, sample, snack or visit. On maple weekend alone, we figure we saw over 1,000 people. Our maple weekend pancake breakfast and BBQ lunch was once again catered by the Scott Brothers, friends and chefs out of MA. They doubled their numbers from 2024, yet still sold out of all the food they made plus in an extra heroic effort - they made us a killer Saturday night dinner at the farmhouse. We’re already scheming on how to make maple weekend bigger and better for next year. If you find yourself near Middleton, MA - be sure to check out Scott Brothers BBQ located in Middleton, MA at The Lot on South Main just across the street from Richardson's Ice Cream. You won’t regret it.
From what we know and over the course of 6 weekends - folks visited our sugarhouse from California, Michigan, Texas, Louisiana, Florida and everywhere in between! We’re so grateful for the community of locals and visitors that keep showing up year after year. We also have to mention our outstanding crew of sap haulers, woods workers, problem solvers, firewood throwers, and shop keepers. You know who you are!
maple tap count
6,470 Taps
First Boil - February 27, 2025
27 boiling days
Last Boil - April 14, 2025
Total Sap Collected…
221,765 Gallons
1.52% Sugar Average
72 Gal sap needed for 1 Gal syrup
Maple Syrup Total
3,630 Gallons
Maple Grades
Golden Delicate, Amber Rich, Dark Robust
We never want to hear that you ran out of maple syrup!! That’s why we established our online farm store. You can shop anytime online and select pickup at the sugarhouse or ship anywhere in the USA. To keep it simple, we offer flat rate shipping. Any special requests for large orders, event/wedding favors or wholesale prices should be emailed to us directly.
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.
be healthy, support local, think maple
~Kelly Webb