So excited about the upcoming season!

Posted on January 14, 2011 by tlmfadmin

This weekend Paul’s mom and sister will be coming out to the sugar house to help us clean up and prepare for the 2011 sugaring season!  We will be cleaning from top to bottom, taking a complete inventory, and getting the wood pile replenished.  There are sure to be a few repairs to be made – hopefully nothing major!

We were contacted by Edible Boston magazine, and they’ll be doing an article on us in their next issue – so very exciting!  The content for the article is about done, and we’re preparing for a photo shoot in the sugar house next weekend.  We’re honored to have been chosen for this article, and look forward to seeing the final publication.

We just started putting together a calendar to start scheduling tours for this year – have 4 inquirires already, and surely many more will be coming in.  We need to contact the schools and start scheduling the North Andover 3rd graders for their annual field trip. 

Have also been trying to update the web site – many pages are terribly out of date.  I’m having particular difficulty with the group tour page – one of the most important pages on the site.  For some reason it won’t publish the new content I’ve typed, which is very frustrating.  I really could use some web site development training…some other day though – just too much going on right now!

Really looking forward to the upcoming months with anticipation – hope to see you all at the sugar house in March!

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Seeking Volunteers

Posted on January 10, 2011 by tlmfadmin

Are you 15 or older and looking for a way to get involved?  We’re looking for hard working individuals who are willing to roll up their sleeves and put in some time working on and around the farm. 

Turtle Lane Maple Farm is a labor of love – but sometimes there is more labor than the two of us can handle!  Over the years we have been fortunate to have community volunteers who have helped us in numerous ways.  We can’t stress how much we truly appreciate this community outreach to help make TLMF a success.

At the moment we’re looking for people to help stack wood, clean and organize in the sugar house, and soon we will be looking for assistance running lines out in the field.   All of these things are critical preparations for the upcoming season.  If you’re interested, please email info@turtlelanemaplefarm.com and let us know your availability during weekends in January and February.

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Leader TreeSaver Spouts

Posted on March 15, 2010 by tlmfadmin

Leader TreeSaver Spouts

New $0.39

Used $0.30

Leader TreeSaver Spout

Leader TreeSaver Spout

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2010 Season is Fast Approaching

Posted on February 23, 2010 by tlmfadmin

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!

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Preparing for the holidays

Posted on November 23, 2009 by tlmfadmin

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

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.

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