We've been push, push, pushing to get ready for maple season these last few weeks, and it's a good thing, for the first run came sooner than we expected. Our season officially started on February 27, not the earliest we've ever started, but definitely earlier than usual. A lot of our preseason work involved tapping a new section in the sugarbush. The additional taps put our total count up to right around 1000. We had our first boil on 2/28 and turned out 12 gallons or so of beautiful light amber syrup--so close to Golden, but not quite. Today we are in an absolute deep freeze with wind chill ..read more

Officially the calendar still says it's summer, but the world outside my window says otherwise. The green of summer is quickly being overtaken by the yellows, oranges, and browns of the season. The apple trees are loaded with apples. They aren't as beautiful as they usually are. The rainy, rainy summer took it's toll on lots of things, the apples included. But there are lots of them, and when turned into sauce or pie or cider, it won't matter that they weren't perfect. The pumpkins are ripening--one of the few things that we managed to grow in the garden this year. There are acorns on the grou ..read more

Just hopping on here to share a yummy granola recipe. If you have maple sugar, it doubles the maple-y goodness, but regular brown sugar works just fine. The best thing about this granola is that you don't have to stir it while it's cooking! And did I mention it's yummy? Maple Granola 1/3 cup real maple syrup 1/3 cup maple sugar or brown sugar 4 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted 3 cups rolled oats (old fashioned) 1-1/2 cups chopped nuts of your choice (almonds, pecans, walnuts are all good!) 1/2 cup shredded or flaked coconut, unsweetened To be added after granola ..read more

The most exciting time of the year in the maple world is nearly upon us. We've been working non-stop tying up loose ends before the season. Tomorrow we finally put the taps out! And then it's just a matter of when the trees decide to do their thing. It's been very snowy lately--not sapping weather. It seems like it's been snowing every other day for the last week and a half. We must have over a foot of new snow out there, with more in the forecast for Saturday. But the 10-day forecast has some very hopeful weather in it. We are ready! This is what it looks like out there right now... Just a l ..read more

I'm looking out the office window at a slope still mostly covered with snow, but April is here, and though we haven't had any significantly warm days, the nights aren't getting cold enough for really good sap flow, which means things are slowing down. Still, the sap we are getting is nice and clear and the syrup coming off the evaporator is still Grade A--beautiful and delicious. Our row of samples on the window sill is growing. We've been back and forth between amber and dark all season. At present we are up around 120 or so gallons of syrup made. Will we make it to last year's 160? That is ..read more

Pancakes are probably hands down the most popular food to have with maple syrup. There's just something about a stack of hot flapjacks with melted butter and a generous drizzling of maple syrup over the top. Mm-mm, good. When the kids were little, Andrew could pack away more pancakes than seemed humanly possible. It was absolutely amazing that this scrawny little kid could eat more pancakes than the adults in the house. We said he had a separate compartment for them, but we never did find out where that was. He can't eat nearly as many now. Strange how that works. This recipe I've named "Fancy ..read more

We always say that you never know how a sapping season is going to go until it's over. Ours isn't over, but never in our wildest dreams did we expect things to be the way they are. I'm sure very few people did. Life has a way of bringing the unexpected. We had big plans for our first official Maine Maple Sunday, but with the coronavirus situation, we decided to put it all on hold. Playing things safe definitely seemed the way to go. The Maine Maple Producers Association hopes to have a Maine Maple Sunday later, after this crisis is over. It won't be during maple season, but hopefully it will ..read more

(Maple syrup is an all-season treat, but summer lends itself to some of our favorite combinations. Read on for more!) Summer is in full swing here in Western Maine. We had our first big heat of the season last week--days of hot, muggy weather in the upper 80's and into the 90's. It was the kind of weather where all you can do is dream of being someplace with lots of water to play in. The garden loved it, but it was a bit sapping to the people around here. Even heat waves have their silver linings.... It may have been hot, but is was also the perfect weather for Maple Iced Coffee. Just when th ..read more

It's cold and snowy and blowy in the sugar bush today, but there are signs that sapping season is nearly here. The sun is getting higher, the days longer. There's a certain expectant feeling. The weather man says we have some days coming that will be in the 40's. Every sugar maker knows that's a special number! So this weekend the plan is to put the taps out--400 or so in all, mostly on vacuum, but some buckets. We'll also be doing some extra cleaning in the sugar house so that when that sap starts to run, we will be ready. Some of you may be interested to know that our magic cleaner for all ..read more

Enjoy a photo dump of June here on our little piece of Maine. Hope June is just as beautiful wherever you are ..read more