Current Boiling Schedule!

Update: Wednesday, April 2nd

It has been a great season but all good things must come to an end.  But can you believe it?  It is April 2nd and we still have a little bit of sap left to boil.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 2 WILL BE THE LAST BOIL OF THE SEASON. FEEL FREE TO STOP BY, OTHERWISE WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR.

Wednesday, April 2: Drop-in visitors welcome from 5p - 9pm

Feel free to swing by, reservations are not necessary. Park on the street not in the driveway (and please don't block any of our neighbor's driveways). You can walk up the driveway and go around the left side of the house (follow the path). You will see the lights of the sugar house. You definitely want to bring your boots as the rain has caused a ton of mud. If you come towards dark be a bit careful, as Comcast knocked out the wire to our driveway lights so we have no lights up the driveway (bring a flashlight if you think you need it). If the sign is up at the end of the street, we are boiling because the first and last thing we do is put up and take down the sign.

There is a small (slight even) chance that tonight and tomorrow morning there will be sap flow (cold night in between two warm days).  So there is a chance that we may boil for a bit on Friday night.  But for certain we are cleaning and taking down tubing Saturday and Sunday.  Check back to see if Friday is a go. 

With over 1,700 visitors to our sugar house, thanks again for a wonderful season.

Looking for volunteers!

On Saturday April 5th, we will be cleaning our tubing around town and taking it down.

This entails filling our sap tank with water and taking a pressure washer to each collection spot. Pulling the taps out of the trees and capping the taps. While pushing pressurized water through the mainline, we unplug the taps one by one till each one is clean. Then we take down the run of tubing, roll it up, tag it, and put it in a pickup. We then move on to the next run.

We will start around 9:30am and go till about 6:00pm. We will also be cleaning and dismantling on Sunday April 6th from around 10:00am and go till about 4:00pm.

We are seeking volunteers to help. We are also seeking anyone with a pickup truck that can assist, so that we can put the cleaned tubing in a truck right away versus leaving it for a later pickup, making things more efficient.  If you would like to volunteer, please send an email to info@turtlelanemaplefarm.com or call us at 978-258-2889 and leave your name and telephone number.

Depending on how the day goes and how much help we get, it is possible that we can get it finished on Saturday.

During the season we have gotten a fair amount of support from the local community, and we are greatful. We are hoping to get some of that same support for the clean up.

Many thanks!!

Paul and Kathy

Lines up at Cullen Estate

The season is approaching fast! Today we ran our longest run of mainline (1/4 mile). It is on the old Cullen Estate, on the tote road that connect Steven’s Estate and Edgewood. It has 25 great old sugar maple trees that we believe were planted around 150 years ago (just our guess based on size). We will only place 4 taps in each tree as this is the maximum number of taps that a tree should have according to the North American Maple Producer’s Manual.

We not ready to tap yet as it is too early in the season, but running the lines before hand really helps spread out the work.

Cullen_Estate_Mainline_note.jpg

Boston Accueil

March 21, 2008
9:30 amto10:30 am

This group is an association of French, French speaking and francophile people in the Boston area.  A group of 10 ladies along with children will join us.

Sargent Elementary School

March 12, 2008
11:30 amto2:15 pm

The four third grade classes from Sargent Elementary School in North Andover will join us for a field trip, bringing 105 children, 4 teachers and 16-24 chaperones.

Atkinson Elementary School

March 12, 2008
10:05 amto11:25 am

Three third grade classes from the Atkinson Elementary School in North Andover will join us for a field trip, bringing 70 children, 3 teachers and 12-15 chaperones.

Kittredge Elementary School

March 12, 2008
8:40 amto10:00 am

Both of the third grade classes from Kittredge Elementary School in North Andover will join us for a field trip, bringing 45 children, two teachers and approximately 5-10 chaperones.

Brownie Troop #105

March 18, 2008
4:00 pmto5:00 pm

Brownie Troop #105 from Chelmsford will be joining us with a group of 10 girls ages 8-9 and their chaperones.

Brownie Troop #1891

March 12, 2008
4:00 pmto5:00 pm

Brownie Troop #1891 joins us from Waltham, bringing 16 children ages 6-7 years old and 5 adults.

Community Cooperative Preschool

March 18, 2008
2:00 pmto3:00 pm

The Community Cooperative Preschool from North Andover will be joining us with a group of 14 children ages 4-5, and several adults.

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