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Our 43nd Year!
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2018 Season Update
“The Secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” Dan Millman
Welcome to the 43rd season at Mapletree Farm! Concord’s oldest and only continuously operating sugarhouse.
Over the years, you have heard and read about the goings-on here in
East Concord. The wildlife, farm activities & upgrades,
regulations and of course, no sugaring conversation would be complete
without commentary concerning the weather. Well, the theme of
2017 through 2018 has been change and the changes have been huge!
Shortly after the 2017 season, Mapletree Farm began the largest project
to date by far. Feeling that the old sugarhouse, despite 40 years
of reliable service, just wasn’t going to continue to meet the needs of
the operation, or remain compliant with the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, the time
had come to break out the pencil and paper and design a new
facility. As happens, pencil and paper turned into hammer and
chisel and saw and the result is now nearly complete.
The new sugarhouse includes a canning kitchen, a store front, restroom
facilities, and of course, the original sugarhouse building, relocated
and repurposed to house the evaporator only. We designed the new
building with the public in mind, to allow you to visit more
comfortably and to make sure you get to see the operation, all of the
operation, in one visit.
A self-guided tour in New Hampshire’s only planted maple orchard in
production leads visitors into the building at the same place that the
sap enters. Visitors can then follow the sap at 2% sugar content
to syrup at 66%, asking any and every question that comes to mind,
along the way.
As written previously we generally do not tap as early as others.
We still like to wait until later in February when the sap is
sweeter. Being otherwise very busy with the construction project,
we were a little later than typical getting into the woods and tapped
this season, however we are now on our way to making some great syrup
and plenty is available for sale.
This year our Annual Open House Weekend is March 24th and 25th which is
the traditional New Hampshire Maple Weekend. Come see how our
maple syrup is made, filtered and packaged. Come and visit, take
a tour through the planted maple orchard, watch the sap dripping into
buckets and traveling down the tubing network into the
sugarhouse. Sample our maple products including maple syrup,
maple cream, and sugar on snow. And as always feel free to ask us
questions. We love to tell people about maple!
Come and have a Blast!
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In memory of Margaret F. Wilber
It's been quite a year at Mapletree Farm with tremendous highs and
lows. The nature of sugaring operation requires that you learn to
expect and accept things that are out of your control. Snow
depth, temperature, sugar content and syrup grades, wind and animal
damage are all part of the puzzle that has to be pieced together to
make a successful season.
This past September, Mapletree Farm was hit with an event that was both
unexpected and out of everyone's control - the sudden death of Meg
Wilber. Meg was a wonderful wife, friend and mentor to many and
her absence is felt daily.
Many of you dealt with Meg when you were ordering syrup, visiting the
sugaring operation or at the tasting table during maple weekend.
Meg spent countless hours during the year on maple - helping to make
and package various products. She enjoyed accompanying Dean on trips
to pick up supplies and attending maple school. The loss of Meg
is profound; nevertheless, she would want Mapletree Farm to continue
with its long-term vision and to enjoy sugaring season.
Thanks for another great Maple Weekend at Mapletree Farm!
Please check back for next year's Maple Weekend dates!
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Visit Concord's best-kept maple secret!
You'll
be able to:
- Try samples
of syrup, sugar on snow and maple cream
- See
the sugar house in operation
- Learn how syrup
is made!
- Watch the sap
flow through hundreds of feet of tubing
- Take
a self-guided walking tour of the orchard and woodlands
- Stock
up on maple products
Fun for the whole family!
Click here
for directions!
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Hours - By Appointment
We have farmers' hours. That is, when we are at the maple farm we are open.
Unlike
larger
maple
producers
we
do
not
have
set
hours
at
our sugarhouse
store.
We
are
often
out
working
the
sap
lines,
cutting
firewood,
or
packaging
syrup.
We
are
glad
to
have
visitors
so
please let
us
know
in
advance
when
you
would like to come, by contacting us either by phone or email. We
will
confirm
that
we
are
around and looking forward to
your
visit.
603-224-0820
or
mapletreefarm@comcast.net |
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