Maine Maple Sunday is one of those annual traditions that gets into your bones. It's a point along the way of the year that you remember fondly, and look forward to. March can be a dark month in Maine, though the days are getting longer, and a little brighter. We are weary of the cold, and on top of that there’s a layer of ice, a puddle of slush, a field of mud, another snow storm on the way. March requires patience and sitting with discomfort. You may be ready to run charging headlong toward spring, planting seeds and planning vacations. Or perhaps you aren’t ready to emerge from winter hibernation, cozy in your home and many sweaters. Your house feels confining, in need of a deep clean; you want to shrug off cabin fever and emerge into much-needed sunshine. March is a study in contrasts. You can count on the fact that no matter the mood, precipitation, or atmosphere, on or around March 20, astronomical spring will arrive. The vernal equinox is a balance of day and night; it’s the quarter of the year where the light in waxing. We are getting longer days, more sun, and one may experience an optimism to match. We look forward to fresh greens, pops of floral color and vitality coming up from a dormant earth, and newborn animals waking into life. But not quite yet. For now, it's time to tap trees and wait for their sap to pour forth, after which we will boil and boil and boil it down. Syrup is the first sign of the earliest days of spring, that are still cold, yes, but hopeful and stirring.
The variance in temperature is what’s required for a tree’s sap to flow. Below freezing during the nighttime hours and above freezing during the day are the optimal conditions. The sap inside maple trees starts to rise and circulate. Sap is a combination of water, sugar, and the nutrients a tree needs to thrive; sap is stored down underground in the roots and reaching out to the sky in its branches. The sap is collected in buckets hung on the trees, over the tap. It is a common sight in Maine this time of year, the antique bucket against the grayish mossy bark of the trunk of a sugar maple tree. There is something lovely and loving about it. As long as the temperature cycles between below freezing cold by night and warming up in the daytime hours, the pressure difference will keep the sap in flux and running. The collected sap is then transferred to an evaporator, where it is boiled down into syrup. This process takes time. All you can do it wait, and watch! On Maine Maple Saturday and Sunday go to a sugar shack anywhere in Maine for a demonstration; learn how the syrup is made; it's simple and subtle and requires a steady maker. Get up close to such goodness.
Here are a few Maine maple syrup facts at a glance:
- It takes 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup!
- While the sugar maple is ideal, red and silver maple trees can also be tapped for syrup.
- Daytime temperatures between 35 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit are perfect for the sap to flow.
- A tap will run best on the south side of a tree, where the sun is warmest right now.
- It takes about forty years for a tree to grow to be a good size to tap and extract sap.
- When the first crow flies, usually in late February, that's when maple syrup makers start tapping.
While there are dozens of sugar shacks and syrup producers that will open their doors for Maine Maple weekend around the state, if you are in the MidCoast, near Rockland, like we are, these are the places we recommend visiting. Set out early and make a day of driving along pretty country roads, voyaging to the hidden corners and remote villages beneath the conifers where stands of sugar maples are waiting. Meet your neighbors and the farmers who are keeping the old ways alive and whistling. Watch out for smoke rising from the rustic cupola, where the sugar shacks are hiding in plain sight. Keep all your senses peeled for signs of early spring. There may be snow. There may be birdsong. There may be melt and mud. There will definitely be maple candy, maple cotton candy, and maple syrup over fresh snow or vanilla ice cream. There will be folks in good spirits, ready to lean into the shifting season and the sweet promise of spring in Maine, a well-earned reward after a long winter.
Beaver Hill Plantation
Freedom, Maine - 1 hour north of The Craignair Inn
At Beaver Hill in idyllic Freedom, there will be horse drawn carriage rides though the maple orchard, maple coated cashews, maple cinnamon bread, and hot chocolate. Walk the property, observe a demonstration, and sample from the maple bourbon collection, which is syrup aged in bourbon barrels, which sounds like heaven!
Black Owl Maple Products
Jefferson, Maine - 45 minutes northwest of The Craignair Inn
Maple sugar, maple baked beans, maple fudge, maple oatmeal cream pie, maple cream. These tasty products, not to mention syrup in plastic jugs or glass gallons are available at this family owned and operated sugar house that specializes in the darker grades of pure Maine maple syrup.
Red Door Sugar Shack
Topsham, Maine - 1 hour south of The Craignair Inn
Maple popcorn and pancakes will be available at this sweet sugar shack. There will be goats for petting, ample parking, and cozy barns for gathering.
Simmons and Daughters Sugarhouse
Morrill, Maine - 55 minutes due north of The Craignair Inn
With a wide open field across the street, and a cluster of barns on the roadside, it's always a festive scene at Simmons and Daughters Sugarhouse in Morrill. One year, we tried maple syrup hot dogs, and they were a thing of beauty, sweet and savory, smoky and reminiscent of breakfast.
The Riley School
Rockport, Maine - 20 minutes from The Craignair Inn
The Riley School is a large open campus on the water in Rockport, which is an easy, scenic drive down Route 1. The school children will demonstrate how they boil the syrup from trees on the property in large cauldrons over open fires, and there will be a bouncy house and petting zoo for the smallest people in your party.
No matter where the day takes you, Maine Maple Saturday & Sunday is always a beautiful weekend to get outside and discover one of nature's best gifts. When you live closely with the land, its seasons and cycles, what you eat is largely dependent on what time of year it is. March is the time for maple syrup. Maine's rural, rustic life is the perfect antidote to a lonely, digital existence. Get out there and get your hands dirty! Learn an artisanal, useful skill. Make a reservation to stay at The Craignair Inn by the Sea. It is your jumping off point for so many adventures into the wilderness. Every morning, Craignair guests are treated to a hot, homemade vegetarian breakfast. What's cozier than a hot stack of blueberry pancakes covered in Maine made maple syrup? It's so comforting and delicious. We use Maine products whenever we can! It is important to us to support farmers, to use locally grown, caught, harvested, and prepared products, which is good for our ecosystem, our neighbors in the community, and our future. It's also slow and sticky and oh so delicious. Stay at Spruce Head's sweetest bed and breakfast this spring!