Visit from MA Agriculture

Thanks to the team at the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, who are out visiting Maple Farms in support of MA Maple weekend. We appreciated the visit this morning. Thank you to: John Lebeaux, Commissioner Jason Wentworth, Assistant Commissioner Mary Jordan, Director Devon Manchester, Program Coordinator. Plus, thanks to Hardwick Selectman Kelly Allen and John from Hardwick

Save the Date!

Come for a scrumptious maple brunch at Hartman’s Herb Farm on Sunday, March 19th from 11 am – 2 pm, then come visit us for our Sunday open house (we’re open until 4). Menu: Maple Glazed Ham Maple Sage Sausage patties Eggbake Herb Roasted Potatoes Maple French Toast Maple Glazed Carrots Maple Mustard Salmon Maple Glazed

First Open House in 2017!

Join us this Sunday from 11-4 at our first open house of the 2017 season. Follow the process of making maple syrup from tree to tasting. During the open house you can watch the sap being collected and boiled, sample the finished product, see the old-fashioned way of making syrup, and enjoy hot mulled maple cider.

Seminar Today at Hardwick Coop

Today I’m heading down to the Hardwick Farmers Coop to give a seminar on making maple syrup. It starts at 10:30 am. Joe was planning to come, but as it goes with Mother Nature, you’ve got to make hay when the sun is shining…or in this case, make maple syrup when  the sap is flowing!!!

Cup of Joe

Happy Friday! Wow, this weather is incredible. I took my morning coffee down to the sugar shack, sat on a rock, and watched the sun rise again today—the second time in as many days I took time. I marveled at the fog lifting off the lingering snow as steam came off my coffee. My coffee

Walking to the Sun

This Thursday morning marked the beginning of a warm spell. As Joe collected sap at Moose Brook, I walked up to the top of the hill to watch the sun rise. Yes, I know, hardly a fair division of labor but there you have it. Here are the pictures from that morning glory. Lovely!!  

The Start of the 2017 Season

Joe started the 2017 maple syrup season earlier than ever, with the first boil in January—and it was a big one! This morning he was up at 3:30 a.m. checking the vacuum pumps, making sure we are capturing all the sap from the warm weather this weekend. Yesterday he and I were at Dana Center in

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

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

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