Sometime in 2001 we found some maple taps in my grandmother's shed. We had only the vaguest idea of what to do with them. She taught us the basics, which included digging the pan out of the basement. My grandfather had made the pan and the fireplace many years before and my granmother's brother used to boil sap on it for hours. He only had about 8 buckets, which was plenty for him because he had emphysema and could only collect and then empty one bucket at a time. That wasn't quite enough for us so we bought 6 sparkling new buckets.

     

 

 

When that wasn't enough we started to use any kind of "bucket" we could find to hang on our trees. Empty milk and orange juice jugs, even a plastic bird seed container. We also couldn't seem to boil fast enough. We found that if we put buckets into the pan and weighed them down with rocks the sap would boil faster, due to more cooking surface. Needless to say we weren't particularly attractive.

 

 

         

 

We now have about 300 taps,120 of those being traditional metal buckets with the remaining taps being plastic tubing.

 

     

 

We also now have a real sugar house...

 

                       

 

 

... complete with a real evaporator.          

 

            

                                                                                

No more juice jugs or rocks !

 

 

 

             

 

Please feel free to join us on weekends during sugaring season.

11:00 to 5:00 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Usually beginning in late February. 

 

 

Check out other sugar houses in Massachusetts    Massachusetts Maple Producers Association