Happy Easter!

May today be a wonderful family day for you, whether or not you celebrate Easter. The Sugar Shack is officially closed (Joe is finishing the clean-up today), so there is no open house. We’ll see you next year! And remember, you can always buy maple syrup at local stores: Petersham General Store, Clover Hill, Rose 32, Country Gourmet, and Howe’s vegetable stand in Holden and Paxton. You can also order online directly.

Boiling is over

I’m sorry to say we’re all done with sugaring for 2016. This is the earliest we’ve ever ended (but also the earliest we’ve ever started, so I guess it all evens out!)

We’ll be here tomorrow if you want to be outside and see the sugar house, but no steam coming out since there is no sap to boil into syrup!

Last Boil of the Season

Last week was the first open house of the 2016 season. And, believe it or not, today is the last boil of the season!

This has been a very strange year. The warm days and cold nights made February more like March. So we produced the majority of our syrup last month.

Join us today to see the last of the steam as we say goodbye to sugaring season and hello to spring. My daffodils have sprung up, so the flowers are not far away!

OPEN HOUSE:

When: Today from 11-4

Please help us spread the word by forwarding on the info to your friends and family that may be interested. Looking forward to seeing you!

First open house of 2016

Today is the first open house of the 2016 sugaring season! Join us today, or any Sunday in March (except Easter), to see how the sweet stuff is made. It’s a sure sign Spring is almost here to stay when you see steam coming out of the sugar house.

We will be boiling sap to make syrup today.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Last open house of 2015

This has been a very short season. Your last chance to see maple syrup being made at the Hardwick Sugar Shack is tomorrow, March 29, 2015 between 11-4. Joe and I are just leaving the farm now to go collect sap for tomorrow’s boil. Onyx and Pearl (our black and yellow labs) are awaiting our return to play more in the snow. I think they are the only ones happy to see more of the white stuff!!!

Today Joe finished another boil and made some tasty medium amber syrup. There will be taste testers tomorrow.

Hope to see you then.

The Season That Almost Wasn’t

Joe and I were beginning to think winter would never end and the spring sap would never flow!

I’m very happy to report that Mother Nature has decided that spring will come after all, with the first boil of the MA maple season season happening yesterday here in Hardwick.

Here are a couple of pictures from the sugar shack–the roof snow and ice slowly melting off and the steam from the evaporator in action.

We will have our open house this Sunday, March 15. Feel free to stop by between 11-4. We do plan on boiling that day.

Still waiting…

Joe and I hoping for warmer days!!

I’m sorry to say there is still no sap to boil into maple syrup. Joe tells me he now has sap anxiety…we’ve never started the season so late. Usually we have the first boil in January, one or two in February, then every week in March. So far this year: zero, zip, nada.

If you were planning on coming to our usual open house tomorrow, Sunday, March 8, 2015, please consider rescheduling until next Sunday, since nothing will be happening until then. The weather looks promising this coming week (yahoo!), marking the beginning of what is shaping up to be a very weird season.

Joe went to the official state tree tapping organized by the MA Maple Association yesterday, and was thankful that Governor Baker attended. We very much appreciate the time, effort, and energy the Governor took to officiate the ceremony.

You can read more about the event here.