Our tours last approximately an hour, give or take, depending on the age, size and interest level of the group. Depending on the weather, we will hold the first part of the tour outdoors and the second part indoors. However, if it is too cold or raining/snowing, we hold the entire tour indoors.
You will learn about how the maple industry began, who discovered maple, etc. through some interactive story telling. You will learn about where the sap is stored in trees and what makes the sap flow, as well as how to tap a tree and how the sap collection process works. You will see our filter/pump room and get a description of how we process raw sap prior to starting the boiling process. Our evaporator will be running, and we have a platform that you will be able to go on to see into the pans and hear about how the boiling process works, from the sap pan, to the syrup pan, to drawing off the syrup. You will learn how to determine when the syrup is done, and how it is then filtered, bottled and graded. Throughout this time you will sample raw sap, partially finished syrup and warmed finished syrup.
After learning about syrup, we will also treat you to samples of maple cream, maple candy and maple sugar as we talk about the process of making each of these items. Oftentimes we also have a sample of special ice cream made with our maple syrup by a local ice cream producer – Mad Maggies Ice Cream in North Andover.
There is no charge for the tour – this is just a fun outing!
We run tours continuously every Saturday and Sunday during the month of March, as long as the weather is conducive. We might be able to start tours at the end of February, it all depends on Mother Nature – we need daytime temps in the 40’s and overnights below freezing. We also boil on various week nights, depending on how much sap we have. Any time we are boiling we welcome visitors!
You can drop in any time for a tour, no reservations are required unless you have a group of over 25 people or would like a tour during the week.
To schedule a group tour, please send an email to info@turtlelanemaplefarm.com. We aren’t as good at responding to phone messages as we are very busy during this time of the year, so email is your best option.
A Couple More Things…
- We will have syrup, maple cream, maple candy and maple sugar available for sale in the sugar house. We accept cash, checks and credit cards.
- We typically recommend that you wear boots as it can be a bit slushy/muddy on the way back to the sugar house if snow is melting.
- We do not allow pets in the sugar house, as we are producing a food product.
- We are not a restaurant, and therefore do not have any food items – pancakes, etc.
We will try our very best to update our website, our voice mail and our facebook page with the latest info regarding tours and boiling schedules. Hope you can come out and enjoy the sugaring experience with us!