The rain is still pouring down…

The rain did not stop the brave souls who came out to see the making of Massachusetts maple syrup yesterday! Thanks to those who stopped by. For those who missed it, well, you have three Sundays left (and let’s hope for some great weather for the remaining events!) Yoga master John Featherstone sent me this

Fluff and Maple

I told my friend from California that I was having a Fluffernutter for lunch. She had NEVER heard of that sandwich before! Turns out Fluff is a New England thing, just like maple syrup. So I sent some of both to her family. Her son seems to be enjoying both of the sticky goodies… The

First open house of the 2011 season!

This weekend marks the first open house at the Hardwick Sugar Shack. Come join us! All the information, including the directions, can be found on the Visit page. As of this writing, I’m not sure whether we will be boiling. The extended forecast looks like it’s a possibility. I’ll make a post when we get

Maple Syrup season 2011 begins…

OK, so I’m confused! In the beginning of the video I said “Welcome to the 2010 season.” It’s 2011, right? Sigh, the mind is behind…. It’s been a physically demanding and emotionally frustrating week. The amount of snow in the woods is a challenge, and our major vacuum pump equipment is acting up. It’s losing

Last open house!

Tomorrow, Sunday, March 28th is our last open house of the season. That month flew by! We have a good size group coming to visit us from the Heifer Project of Rutland, MA. This organization does great stuff in the world, and we’re happy that they will be stopping by. The Heifer Project helps families

Summer During Sugaring Season

Today the thermometer read 70 degrees. That’s not sugaring weather—that’s beach weather. Don’t get me wrong, I love to feel the warm sun on my face as much as the next New Englander after a cold winter, but this is just too much too soon. It’s been a pretty bad year for making maple syrup

Wet, windy, and cold for second open house

I was bragging last week when we had 50+ degrees and a gorgeous sunny day for our first open house of the season. No more bragging for me (well, at least for today, anyways.) Today was a miserable day. After running all over town with Joe yesterday to fix a broken sap pump, we awoke

Fantastic opening day

This past weekend was the first official open house for the sugar shack. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. The sky was clear, bright blue and the sun was strong and warm – it must have reached 50 degrees. I didn’t check the thermometer because I was too busy greeting people! Usually the

First tap of 2010

I froze today! While most ladies were enjoying bon-bons and flowers for Valentine’s Day, I was out working with Joe getting the tubing ready for sugaring season. Couldn’t have asked for a better day with my Love!

2009 Maple Syrup Season

The 2009 Massachusetts maple syrup season is over too soon for Joe and I. Our crop this year was down 20%, mostly because the temperature did not fluctuate enough for the sap to flow. The nights need to be below freezing and the days warm for the best production. If it just stays cold night and