During the recent warm weather maple syrup buckets appeared on the sugar maple trees at the farm. In the North Country, sugaring is a tradition going back to the indigenous tribes that lived here well before Europeans arrived in America. Every late February, into March, you’ll see steam billowing from sugar houses as the sap is boiled down to make maple syrup. It’s a tedious process, with 40 gallons of sap needed to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.

At Sugar Plum Farm, we adhere to the old fashioned way of sugaring, using buckets to catch the sap as it drips from the tree, while larger operations utilize the blue piping and gathering tanks that you’ve likely seen in the woods, if you’ve driven down a country lane.

Sugaring season is also foaling season and the Sugar Plum Farm staff is busy watching pregnant mares around the clock . . Even with a foaling in the middle of the night, there’s nothing sweeter than a new baby standing on wobbly legs as it explores it’s new world.

We’ll likely have a bit more winter weather, but the warmer days have served to remind us that Spring is around the corner !

Buckets of Spring