Experience Local Agriculture
Maple Syrup
Maple syrup is usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the sap that is released. The sap is then processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.
In-Season: Early February- Late March
How to store: Maple syrup should be stored in a cool place until opened. Once opened it must be refrigerated. For long-term storage, pure maple syrup retains its flavor best when kept in the freezer. Maple syrup will not freeze solid and can be poured into smaller containers for use. If you purchased syrup in tin containers, it is recommended, after opening, that you pour it into clean, odor-free glass jars (like canning jars) and then put those into the refrigerator or freezer.
Fun Facts:
It takes 30-40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.
To place a single tap on a maple tree, the trunk must be at least 12 inches in diameter, a size taking 40 years for the tree to reach.
Sugar maples are only found in one area of the world. This ranges from Southeast Canada, down into the Northeastern United States. Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Maine.
Farms in Connecticut:
Broad Brooks Maple Syrup
Maple Leaf Farm
Lamothe’s Sugar House
