Maple Sugar Program
Starting in late winter, the days grow warmer while the nights remain chilly. This fluctuation sends sap running in the maple trees. Here in Weston, Land’s Sake continues the tradition of crafting locally-made maple syrup through our educational Maple Sugar program.
We collect sap from maple trees throughout Weston with teams of middle school students. Together, we boil the sap in a special evaporator fired by sustainably harvested local wood to produce maple syrup. We demonstrate the boiling process to school classes, homeschooling groups, and Boys and Girl Scout troops at the Bill McElwain Sugar House next to the Weston Middle School. The Town of Weston supports this work with a small grant.
On average, we boil forty gallons of sap to produce one gallon of syrup. Incredibly, in 2008 and 2009 we produced approximately 100 gallons of syrup with sap collected from over 200 trees! Typically our harvests yield 50-60 gallons of maple syrup annually.
In mid to late March, after the sap has stopped running clear and pure, Land’s Sake hosts the popular Sugaring Off festival. Participants enjoy the season’s maple syrup, pancakes, maple sugar candy, music and student-led tours of the Sugar House and maple sugar process. Please check the Land's Sake event calendar for date, time, and additional details.
There are several ways to participate in our Maple Sugar operation:
- If you are a school, scout and homeschool group, sign up for one of our educational tours of our maple sugar operation.
- If you are a middle-school student, have fun and get paid by learning how to make maple syrup in our Green Power Maple Program!
- If you are a homeowner and have 6-12 sturdy maple trees on your property that we may tap, please contact us. We would be happy to continue the tradition of sugar-making from your property!
- If you are interested in purchasing our maple syrup, please contact us for prices and availability. Our syrup is also sold on our farmstand from June through October while supplies last.
