How Sweet It Is

Starting this weekend, visitors to Drumlin Farm will be able to see our maple sugaring process up close during drop-in hours at the evaporator behind the Pond House, starting February 15 until March 9. A teacher-naturalist will be on hand at 11:30 am to give you the inside scoop on maple sugaring.  Here are a few fun sugaring facts to get you started!

• We tap 73 trees – 12 at our Sugarbush, 1 in the education parking lot, 1 at the Drumlin Farm Community Preschool, and 59 off-site with the gracious permission of our neighbors.
• The sap we collect now was made in the tree last summer for leaf production and growth in the coming year.
• For the best sap flow, we hope for a 40° day followed by a 20° night, so that the sap is stored again in the roots when it’s cold and sent up to the branches when it warms up during the day.
• We use a “tree-saver” spile that has a smaller diameter than traditional spiles, making it healthier for the tree in the long run.  This less intrusive, more compact model doesn’t open the tree up to possible infection in the same way as traditional spiles. This year, 100% of our trees will be tapped with the tree-saver spile!
• Although many of our trees could handle 3 spiles based on their girth, we have decided to go no higher than 2 spiles per tree to preserve the long term health of the trees we tap.  Sustainability!
• Before the syrup is bottled, it is run through two rounds of filtering through cotton and wool screens.
• 34-40 gallons of sap = 1 gallon of syrup!

Join us by the evaporator to learn more fun facts about making maple syrup! And if you just can’t get enough of our sweet syrup, sign up for Maple Moo on Feb 28, and Maple Magic on March 7 — two fun Family Programs to enjoy on the farm!

And our annual Sap-to-Syrup Farmer’s Breakfast, March 15 and 16, is always a hit for the whole family! Register early, as spots for both the Family Programs and the breakfast fill up fast! Visit www.massaudubon.org/drumlinprograms or call 781-259-2206 to register.