Despite COVID-19, the sap keeps on rolling

Two of the Northwest Corner’s largest commercial maple syrup operations will not be sugaring this year because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Smaller operations will continue to tap sap this year, however, so fresh, natural and pure maple syrup should still be readily available for the 2021 season.

To say that there are “large commercial operations” in the region, really, is an exaggeration. There are no massive producers on the scale of what one might find in Vermont, for example. 

An article in VermontBiz, an online magazine, compared production numbers by state for 2020. Vermont produces more than half the maple syrup sold in the U.S., at about 2,220,000 gallons from 6,150,000 taps in the maple trees. In the same year, Connecticut produced … well, the number is so low that it was listed as NA on the chart.

Connecticut is one of only 10 U.S. states to even be included on the list. New York state is also on the list, producing an estimated 804,000 gallons last year from 2,800,000 taps.

Massachusetts’ numbers are closer to those for Connecticut — in the sense that the state gets an NA on all the indicators.

But really, trying to be statistical and talking about yield when it comes to maple syrup is just silly. Maple syrup is in essence one of those ethereal whimsical edibles that nature offers when it feels like it. Sometimes there is a lot of syrup. Sometimes there is not. 

It’s sap
season now

For those who are new to the area, maple syrup season is in late February and early March. It offers the first glimpses of hope that winter (and worse, mud season) might eventually end. The sun is bright in the sky and the temperatures start to rise during the day. 

That sun and warmth are essential to the maple syrup process. In late winter, there is sweet sap inside the maple trees. The sap rises up through the trunk when the days are warm and sunny (40 degrees or more) and the nights are cold. 

Traditionally, the sap was collected in metal buckets that were attached to the three trunks. The outside of the tree was “tapped” with a metal spile or spigot. Hardy sugarers would go around and collect the sap-filled buckets from the trees every day, sometimes venturing out into the “sugarbush” on snowshoes.

Most producers these days collect sap through long expanses of blue tubing (which is cleaned each spring with the aid of cleansers and a pump). 

Leaves and debris and bugs are strained out of the sap, which is then taken to the sugar shack, where it is boiled down over a wood fire for hours until most of it evaporates away, leaving a small amount of thick, amber sweetener. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. 

It’s an arduous process, truly a labor of love. Once you’ve witnessed how much work it takes, you will never again wonder why real, fresh syrup is so expensive. 

Maplefest is March 20

The Audubon Center in Sharon offers an educational tour every year of its sugarbush, and the collection and boiling of sap in its sugar shack each year in March as part of its Maplefest. 

This year, because of COVID-19, some sugaring will continue at the Route 4 nature center, but it will be very scaled down.

“We are just doing the maple trail, along our front lot,” said Education Program Manager Wendy Miller. “We will not be tapping any of the trees in our big sugarbush up on the hill, it’s really just for education purposes.” 

Visitors can come to the center and walk the short trail that is steps away from the center’s entrance. There are signs up explaining the process. 

Maplefest will still be held this year, on Saturday, March 20. 

“This year people must pre-register and sign up for a time slot,” Miller said. “We’reonly allowing eight people in a group. Tours are every half hour between noon and 4 p.m., so there’s very limited capacity compared to our usual years, when we have as many as 20 people in a group.”

When it comes to maple syrup, Miller said, there really is no longer such a thing as “normal” or “usual.”

“It’s very up and down each year now. Fifteen years ago we produced about 60 gallons but for the last several years it’s been more like 20 gallons. Two years ago we produced 90 gallons, and it was 15 gallons the year before. Last year I think we made between 50 and 60 gallons — but then everything shut down in the middle of the season because of COVID.”

There was no Maplefest last year. That’s the day when Audubon sells the most syrup — which means there is still plenty of syrup available for sale at Audubon (the syrup remains perfectly intact from year to year as long as its stored properly).

Someone will be outside the center on March 20 selling syrup; you can also order it by calling Audubon at 860-364-0520.

Prices range from $4.95 for  a 3/4 ounce small container to $24.95 for a quart. There are also decorative glass bottles at different prices; most are about $15.95.

Audubon will also host a “virtual” syrup program on Friday, March 19, at 6 p.m. Bethany Sheffer will give a broader overview of the history of maple sugaring, here and in other parts of the country. Sign up at https://sharon.audubon.org/events/maple-sugaring-connecticut-sweet-evolu....

Great Mountain Forest

Another of the region’s major producers of maple syrup is the Great Mountain Forest, which is a working and teaching forest in Norfolk and Falls Village. 

Tamara Muruetagoiena, executive director at Great Mountain Forest, said in a phone interview with reporter Patrick L. Sullivan on Wednesday, Feb. 24, that GMF will not be making maple syrup this year.

She said there were two reasons for the decision. 

The first is that GMF’s sugar shack operation is a community event, with school groups and others coming to watch. (Not to mention reporters suffering cabin fever.)

Muruetagoiena said inviting people into the steamy, close quarters of the sugar shack would be unwise in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Similarly, Muruetagoiena was concerned about the health of the employees, even without the public in play.

Ridgway Farm

Gordon Ridgway is the first selectman of Cornwall, but he’s also a full-time professional farmer, and another of the region’s major sugar producers. His production this year is not inhibited by COVID regulations because his operation doesn’t have an educational or public component. 

Ridgway told reporter Leila Hawken last week that he was ready to start collecting sap at any time. 

“It’s nice and cold and there is snow on the ground,” perfect conditions.  “The worse the weather, the better the syrup.”  

Ridgway anticipates that this will be an abundant year — better than last year, which was too warm.

Ridgway produces about 500 to 600 gallons of syrup each year. He estimated that the farm has more than 2,000 trees, most of which are sugar maples. Ridgway Farm syrup can be found at about 20 retail outlets in the area, including Cornwall’s farm markets.

Tilly and Julian Strauss

Artist Tilly Strauss has been making syrup with her father, Julian, for many years on their farm in Amenia.  

“My pa, Julian Strauss, grew up on the farm and remembers clearly when the hillside was pasture with only a few large standing oaks and maples,” she said. “Now it’s mostly maple. 

“About 10 years ago he got a sawmill and was making lumber and the thought of extra fuel and a hillside of sugar maples made him agree to partner with his neighbor, Dennis Johnson, and tap a couple trees. It started with six trees! Now, with my pa retired from his vet work, they tap about 20 acres.  

“It is a project of good times and education. When things are going smooth they have a good time, and when they aren’t going smooth, they have an education.

This year, she said, “We expect a good time!

“We just finished putting in about 1,100 taps and await a week of varying temperatures. I’m not sure how much will flow this week, but by the first week in March it should be flowing steady. 

“It looks like it will be a good season. The cool temperatures and plentiful snow gave the trees a good winter rest. We are starting a little later than last year, but the weather bodes well. Dennis has a sap app on his phone, which we watch every day.”

The Strauss family farm maple syrup is sold at McEnroe Organic in Millerton; at the sugar shack on Haight Road; and at Strauss’ website, www.tillystudio.com.

“An 8 ounce bottle is $10 and the price goes down for multiples: two bottles for $18, three for $25. A case of 12 is $100. We have a flat-rate shipping price for a single bottle, a box of five and a box of 10. At the shack we have new 16 ounce bottles for $17, or a case of 12 for $170 (no shipping on this size).”

Other options

Lou Timolat and his son-in-law, Eric Carlson  own and operate the Falls Village Saw Mill on Route 7; on the side they also produce small batches of apple cider and maple syrup. 

The Mead family in North Canaan are major producers of local maple syrup, which can be purchased at several area grocery stores and at Freund’s Farm Market in East Canaan. 

There are also many very small sugarers in the area, most of whom will be happy to sell a quart or two of their syrup, if asked politely.