Turtle Lane Maple Farm

Actually, it is here! Only problem, we aren’t ready.

In all the past years, earliest we have had sap running is February 27th, and so that is what we prepare for. Imagine our surprise late last week when we figured out, OMG the season is passing us by. We have been working every spare minute on getting ready. Hanging lines for 500+ taps all around town, including a brand new run of 100 taps that replaces nearly the same amount in trees cut down last season on Johnson and Salem Streets. Cleaning the sugar house, the pans, the pumps, the tanks, and anything else we can put hot water to. And for the first time since December, now the website. There will be more coming soon. As in past years, we will post boiling schedules daily so keep checking back. Kathy is also working on a comprehensive tour schedule, sorry to all of you that have been waiting.

We should be ready to go by the end of this week. Then the question will be, will the sap run? The last week has been perfect, to our shagrin, and now it looks like the next 4 days will be miserable. Our boiling this weekend will be purely dependent on whether mother nature will have some pity on Turtle Lane Maple Farm. Cross your fingers, do a dance, and check back daily as we get closer to the weekend.

For those of you on Facebook, we have been enjoying sharing information via our Fan Page at: www.facebook.com/turtlelanemaplefarm and on twitter at http://twitter.com/turtlelanemaple

Thanks for supporting local agriculture!

Although the sugaring season is long been over for 2009, we have still been busy. There seems to be no end of cleaning, wood chopping and more cleaning. Throw in some re-bottling, candy and cream making for good measure, followed up by more cleaning.

As is the tradition of Turtle Lane Maple Farm, we will be making Holiday Baskets again this year. This weekend we re-bottled syrup from bulk containers which we filled back in March during season, into glass maple bottles which make beautiful gifts. Over the next couple days we will be making maple cream and maple candy. Then during the weekend after Thanksgiving (we hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!) we will be assembling the baskets.

A sample of baskets

Holiday Basket

If you are interested in purchasing a basket, or have any special requests, please email info@turtlelanemaplefarm.com

And don’t forget, if you are giving gifts and want to give something with a local flavor, our bottles of pure local maple syrup make an extra special gift.

Sorry to everyone that has come to the site so far this year and found terribly outdated content.  We have been busy with life as well as getting ready for the season.  Sometimes it seems we are stretched a bit too thin.  But we are very excited for the upcoming season!

We are in the process of cleaning the sugarhouse, repairing the equipment, and getting ready to run tubing (we are always looking for volunteers).  We expect to run tubing during the last two weeks of February. Most likely in the last week of February we will be tapping the trees in expectation that the beginning of March will kickoff the beginning of the season.  The perfect weather for set flow is daytime temperatures in the 40’s and overnight below freezing.  Although the groundhog says that there is many more weeks of winter we believe that the beginning of spring is right around the corner.

We are hoping for a plentiful season of sap flow, because all indications are that we are sure to have a successful season in terms of visitors. We have already booked 28 groups for tours, not to mention all of the drop-in visitors we are expecting.  Last year we had 1,750 visitors for free tours (a new record), not sure if we will beat that this year.  We’re getting antsy for the season to begin, and look forward to the upcoming weeks in March!

The perfect weather for sap flow is daytime temperatures in the 40’s and overnights below freezing. As of Friday last week the forecast had 8 of 10 days meeting this criteria, so in anticipation we put in nearly 400 taps this weekend. However, the forecast has now changed and it looks like only Monday and Tuesday will have sap flow with some colder weather coming in for the remainder of the week. We’re getting antsy for the season to begin, and look forward to the upcoming weeks in March!

We attended the Mass Maple Association’s annual meeting in January and are getting so anxious for the start of the 2008 maple season! We are working with all of the elementary schools in North Andover to schedule field trips for each of their fifteen third grade classes. We already have five other tour groups scheduled and have seven other groups we are in the final planning stages with. If you have a group and are interested in scheduling a tour, please send us an email at info@turtlelanemaplefarm.com.

We are also planning for a big event – the Mass Maple/Mass Department of Agriculture Maple Kickoff Event. This event will be held on Friday, March 7 at our sugarhouse from 10:30am until about 12:30pm. We are working with several local businesses like Mad Maggie’s Ice Cream, Butcher Boy Marketplace, Perfecto’s Caffe, Eatz Restaurant, The Loft… to provide maple treats. We will also be making mini pancakes, sugar on snow and other confections on site. We are working with the North Andover elementary schools to arrange to have a variety of 3rd grade students come to represent the school children we provide tours for during each maple season. This event is sure to be festive and informative, and we’re expecting upwards of 200 visitors, including friends and family as well as local and state governmental officials. All are welcome to join us for this special day!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone for letting us share our maple operation with you. The 2007 season was a GREAT one, marking our best year yet with over 800 visitors! The weather wasn’t as good as it has been in prior years, but for us it’s all about the visitors so for us this has been a banner year… Looking forward to next year!

Feel free to give us a call if you’re in need of syrup – we’ll have it available for sale throughout the year. It’s a great add-in for holiday baskets, and if you’re in need of a basket we’ll also have some for sale in December.