Maple Sugaring (Photo Village Trading Post)

Sugarshack owners are "drained" as they have worked tirelessly since mid-February to produce a year's worth of syrup. Once the days start warming and the nights remain cold, sap from thousands of sugar maple trees begins flowing from their roots, up through the trunk and out to the branches to nourish the forthcoming buds. This cycle happens each day for a period of four to six weeks. A healthy tree can provide sap for over one hundred years, but needs to be at least forty years old and at least ten inches in diameter. Holes are tapped two to three inches deep; a spout is quicky driven in and connected to tubing.

Then comes the waiting! The temperature must have a swing of 15 degees within 12 hours, from the low to mid-twenties to the high thirties/low forties in order for the sap to flow. Forty gallons of sap will only produce 1 gallon of "liquid gold." The grade of syrup depends on the time of the season in which it is boiled. The closer to the beginning of the season, the better the quality of the syrup. Therefore, catching the first drip of sap is crucial. Once the "run" begins, stainless steel evaporators are used for boiling and concentrating the sap into syrup.

	Maple Sugaring Day (Photo Village Trading Post)

Here are a few local sugarhouses to choose from:

Pa's Sugar Shack, New Gloucester, 926-5026 - Not open on Maine Maple Sunday, but open evenings and weekends during maple season, offering candies and syrup in a variety of containers. Directions: North out of Gray on Route 100, after five miles, turn right onto Morse Road. On left 1.3 miles, 272 Morse Road. Watch for signs.

West Minot Sugar House, Minot, 966-3643 - Sunday: Open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pancake breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. All you can eat for $6, $1 for children under 5. Will also have maple syrup, cookies, and candies for sale. Horse-drawn sleigh rides from 8 a.m. to noon for a fee, 1 to 3 p.m. Jigs and Reels music. Also open any time they are there during the sugaring season. (It's the evening's entertainment for the folks in West Minot and they always welcome company.) Directions: Rte 119, next to Village Trading Post.

	Evaporating Maple Syrup (Photo Village Trading Post)

Cooper's Maple Products, Windham, 892-7276 - Sunday: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Syrup-making demonstrations all day. Pancake breakfast from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sample maple syrup on ice cream. See minature horses, cattle, peacocks and ostrich. Greenhouse open also. Bus tours welcome. Portable restroom. Other Days: Group and school tours available on request during maple season. Syrup sales all year round. Call ahead. Directions: 81 Chute Road, 1 mile off River Road in South Windham.

Harvest Hill Farms, West Poland, 998-5485 - Sunday: Open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tours of sugarhouse, sugarbush, sampling, pancake breakfast, ice cream, hay rides, balloons. Maple candy, maple butter, maple taffy, maple syrup and other maple products for sale. Other Days: Sugarhouse open when boiling, maple products available all year at new farm market located at 840 Bakerstown Road, Route 11. Directions: West Poland. Off Route 11.

Nash Valley Farm, Windham, 892-7019 - Sunday: Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Come to the country for everything maple! Boiling demonstrations, maple donuts, selection of maple candies and aromatic maple candles. Enjoy a horse-drawn hayride. Other Days: Visitors welcome when they are boiling - suggest calling ahead. Group tours available by arrangement. Syrup is available year round. Handicapped accessible; restroom facilities available. Directions: From the rotary of Routes 202 and 302, take Route 302 towards Portland for one mile. Take a left onto Nash Road, we are one mile on the right.

Sweet William's, Casco, 627-7362 - Sunday: Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sample variety of maple treats: sundaes, baked beans, butter, popcorn and cotton candy. Guided sugarbush tours, detailed explanation of syrup making process. Free balloons and face painting. Pancake breakfast 8 a.m. to noon at Crescent Lake Community Hall. Other Days: Open evenings and weekends during the sugaring season. Visitors welcome anytime. Tours and field trips by appointment. Syrup for sale year round. Handicapped accessible; restroom facilities available; can accommodate bus tours. Directions: 66 Spiller Road.

Washburn-Norlands Living History Center, Livermore, 897-4366 - Sunday:Open 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. All you can eat pancakes smothered in Norlands' own maple syrup. Oxcart rides. See maple syrup made the old-fashioned way! Fun, games, a good time for all! Other Days: There's always something fun happening at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center. Ask about our Washburn tours, learning programs, live-in 1870 overnight packages, workshops, conferences and special events! Restroom facilities available. Directions: Route 4 to Route 108 East, take a left on Norlands Road.

	Finished Maple Syrup (Photo Village Trading Post)

2 lbs of dry beans

1 medium onion

1/2 cup of packed brown sugar

1/2 lb of salt pork

1/2 tsp of dry mustard

1/2 tsp ginger

2 cups of dark maple syrup

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the dry beans, place them in a pot and cover them with water. Let them soak overnight. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer. Cook until the skins sluff off the beans when you blow on them (approximately one hour.) Drain the water and put it aside. Place the onion in the bottom of a bean pot and pour the beans into the pot. Slice the salt pork almost to the rind in one-half-inch intervals and place it rind side up on top of the beans. In a bowl, mix the maple syrup, dry mustard, ginger, salt, and pepper. Add one cup of the water the beans were cooked in, stir together and pour the mixture over the beans. Add more of the bean water to the pot until it reaches one inch above the beans. Bake in the oven for six to eight hours at 250 degrees.