Sweet start to spring at MapleFest

SHARON — The atmosphere was steamy, yet sweet at the Sharon Audubon Center’s sugarhouse Saturday, March 15, during the annual MapleFest.

Each year at this time, as the days warm up, but nights stay cold, the sap from maple trees begins to flow. And each year Sharon Audubon offers guests a look into the process of converting the sap into the sweet-tasting syrup.

As she has for several decades, Wendy Miller, education program manager at the center, welcomes those who arrive at the sugarhouse. The visitors have already strolled down a path surrounded by maple trees to learn how they are tapped. When they get to the tiny building, where the evaporator is going full steam, Miller demonstrates the procedure and explains how sap is mainly water, containing only 3% sugar. To classify as maple syrup, it has to be 67% sugar.

The process is completed when the sap smells sweeter, is thicker and is a golden-brown bubble. She noted it has to reach a temperature of 219 degrees Fahrenheit.

Miller then displayed a hydrometer, which shows the level of sugar in the syrup and demonstrated how the product gets filtered to remove dirt and bugs. When the syrup is bottled, it needs to be between 185 and 190 degrees. Syrups, she said are graded by color.

While learning all about making maple syrup can be interesting, the best part of the tour for many comes at the end, when samples of the treat are offered. For Theo Adkins, 7, of Lakeville, this was the second time in a week he’d been at the sugarhouse. On Saturday he was there with his dad, Craig Adkins, and earlier in the week he’d been there on a school trip. He didn’t have to be coaxed to take a second sampling for a photo.

Wendy Miller, education program manager at Sharon Audubon Center, and intern Brandt Boscio, welcome guests to the sugarhouse during Saturday’s MapleFest.Ruth Epstein

Helping Miller this year with the program is Brandt Boscio, 17, who just graduated in January from Housatonic Valley Regional High School. He has been interested in making maple syrup since he was a freshman, when he began learning the process. “I love syrup for breakfast,” he said, which was a motivator. He produced two eight-ounce bottles his first year and in his sophomore year had 30 taps, building his own evaporator. Last year he had 80 taps, creating a small tubing system for more efficiency. But, Boscio said, finding private property owners to allow their trees to be tapped became a real challenge, so he wasn’t able to continue. His capstone project was about making and selling maple syrup, for which he was able to secure several grants.

David Moran, his vocational agriculture teacher, put him in touch with Miller, and he has been interning at the center with her.

Boscio said he’s gotten a lot of good experience and Miller said he’s been very helpful, “so it’s a win-win situation.” Boscio plans to attend college and study landscape management. He is a member of the Canaan Fire Company.

There was also a bake sale at the event where all the items were made with maple syrup.