Native American Traditional Maple Sugar Festival March 14

Maple Sugaring has been a tradition in New England for centuries that heralds the first glimpse of spring. This tradition was practiced long before the colonists arrived by Native Americans, who in fact where the first people to tap the sugar maple in order to make sugar. The gathering of sap and production of maple sugar is an important event in the annual lifecycle of Native Americans. It is a time when large extended families would gather at Sugar Maple plots to share in the work of making maple sugar.

On March 14 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Institute for American Indian Studies on 38 Curtis Road in Washington Connecticut, there will be a maple sugaring demonstration by Jeff and Judy Kalin of Primitive Technologies. The Kalins will demonstrate several traditional techniques of collecting sap and boiling it down into sugar. This maple sugar celebration, collection and boiling down process will take place in the newly restored 16th century replicated Algonquian Village. Visitors will listen to traditional Native American stories of the ways the sap was collected and how important the seasonal gift of maple sap is to the Native American community.

"We want visitors to the Institute to understand how Native people learned to transform the sap from a tree into sugar," explains Jeff Kalin. "We will be demonstrating the traditional techniques of collecting and evaporating this sap using a variety of tools and containers. Hot stones pulled from the fire will be used to evaporate the sap from wood containers, which alone would not have been able to withstand the direct fire." Kalin will explain how water is evaporated from sap using simple techniques and items made and collected from the forest, which is key to how Native Americans made maple sugar traditionally. Visitors will also learn about the importance of how understanding seasonality and their environment, made it possible for local inhabitants to use the sap from the maple tree to provide an annual supply of sugar for their use or trade among the Native American communities and colonists.

An added sweet bonus of this event is the “made from scratch” pancakes served up with local maple sugar, coffee, and orange juice. The Maple Sugar Demonstration is noon – 3 pm., the Pancake Brunch is 11 am – 2 p.m., and children’s activities are 11:30 a.m. – 2:30 pm. The cost is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, children are $6, and members are free. The pancake breakfast is an additional $5.

About The Institute for American Indian Studies

Located on 15 acres of woodland acres the Institute For American Indian Studies preserves and educates through archeology, research, exhibitions, and programs. They have a 16^th c. Algonquian Village, Award-Winning Wigwam Escape, and a museum with temporary and permanent displays of authentic artifacts from prehistory to the present that allows visitors to foster a new understanding of the world and the history and culture of Native Americans. The Institute for American Indian Studies is located on 38 Curtis Road, Washington, CT.

MapleFest Audubon Sharon’s Maple Sugaring Open House

Audubon Sharon will be holding its annual MapleFest on Saturday, March 16 between 10 am and 4 pm at the Sharon Audubon Center, Route 4, Sharon, CT. On-going guided 40-minute tours will lead visitors through the Center’s sugaring operation, including a working sugarhouse and a re-creation of Native American and early colonial sugaring methods.

Participants can watch as pure sugar maple sap is collected from the trees and turned into delicious maple syrup. Admission for the event is $5.00 adults and $3.00 children.

This hands-on, sensory-based experience focuses on trees as living organisms and the concept of sustainable agriculture in a forest ecosystem.  The staff of the Sharon Audubon incorporates forest ecology and cultural history into the joy and excitement of maple syrup production. Participants will visit 3 different stations during their guided tour with members of the staff.

The first stop is the forest, which is on the way to the sugarhouse. Visitors will be guided down the "maple trail” that is lined with sugar maple trees.  Silver buckets are hung from the trees and guests are invited to take a peek under the lids to observe the watery sap dripping from the spiles into the buckets. Guests will learn proper tapping techniques and how the Audubon Center collects the sap from the buckets before transporting it to the Sugarhouse.

The next stop is the sugarhouse where participants are invited to use their five senses to explore the process of syrup production. Steam can be seen bellowing from the evaporator as soon as the doors are slid open and the sweet aroma of syrup fills the air. The Sugarhouse Guide explains the entire process of how the sap is brought into the sugarhouse, fed into the evaporator and boiled down to the finished product. Tools such as syrup thermometers, hydrometers and filter presses are put to use right in front of the visitors’ eyes and guests even learn what it means to “grade” the fresh maple syrup before it is placed into bottles.

Before leaving the Sugarhouse, everyone is treated to a taste of the delicious finished product.

The last stop of the tour includes a re-creation of Native American and Early Colonial sugaring methods. Guests watch steam rise from the sap in a hollowed out log as educators add Native American hot rocks from the fire ring and tell the legend of Woksis and how maple syrup was first discovered. Moving forward to Colonial times, guest watch the creation of a Colonial spile from a piece of sumac tree that one lucky guest per group gets to take home. Lastly, the “lazy man’s balance” is demonstrated to show how colonists made making maple syrup just a little simpler.

Fresh syrup will be available for purchase in the Sharon Audubon Center Nature Store while supplies last.  For more information on MapleFest or the Audubon Sharon sugaring operation, contact the Audubon Center at (860) 364-0520 or visit  www.sharon.audubon.org.  Depending on sap flow, the sugarhouse will also be open each weekend in March for visitors.  Call ahead to see if Audubon staff will be boiling sap.  

For area information visit www.litchfieldhills.com

HOW SWEET IT IS! MAPLE SYRUP SCENTS ARE SURE SIGNS OF SPRING IN WESTERN CONNECTICUT

If it seems as though this winter will never end, take heart, The sweet scents of maple syrup in the making clearly announce that spring is coming—and they are a good reason to plan a visit to Litchfield and Fairfield counties in Western Connecticut.

Sugar maples are plentiful in these scenic areas and more than a dozen sugarhouses from private farms to nature centers welcome visitors during peak syrup season in March. Guests will view the process from tap to tastes, see how the big bubbling kettles of thin sap boil down to thick fragrant syrup and get to sample the delicious results. Some operations are open every weekend, some have special maple celebration days and some smaller farms request a call to be sure they are ready for company. 

For the sap to run, nights below freezing and warm days are required, so dates can vary.  A call always is a good idea before visiting.

The Maple Calendar  

Lamothe’s Sugar House on 89 Stone Rd. in Burlington starts the season early with the chance to see how syrup is made every weekend from February 9 to March 24 from 1 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.. This family owned operation began as a hobby with seven taps and has grown to over 4500 taps and a year-round showroom.  Coffee and cider are complimentary to visitors. The shop has a multitude of interesting maple sugar products that includes: maple sugar spice rubs, maple candy, kettlecorn and nuts, and even maple barbeque sauce.  Check their website for a special discount on Lamothe’s spices. Along with the maple syrup business the family also raise pigs, and mini-lop bunnies.  For more information www.lamothesugarhouse.com/

One of the busiest sugaring spots is the Flanders Sugar House at Van Vleck Farm Sanctuary in Woodbury.  Staff and volunteers conduct maple syrup demonstrations on on March 2, & 3 and 9 &10.  On March 3 the day begins with a pancake breakfast, topped with Flanders own maple syrup, a treat not to be missed. The maple sugar season ends with the annual grand finale Maple Celebration on March 16. The final festival on March 16 features music, vendors, walks, cooking and maple candy making demonstrations, maple food sampling and special kids’ crafts and activities.

Audubon Sharon will be holding its annual MapleFest on Saturday, March 16 between 10 am and 4 pm at the Sharon Audubon Center, Route 4, Sharon, CT.  On-going guided 40-minute tours will lead visitors through the Center’s sugaring operation, including a working sugarhouse and a re-creation of Native American and early colonial sugaring methods.  Participants can watch as pure sugar maple sap is collected from the trees and turned into delicious maple syrup.    Admission for the event is $5.00 adults and $3.00 children.    This hands-on, sensory-based experience focuses on trees as living organisms and the concept of sustainable agriculture in a forest ecosystem. Our teaching method incorporates forest ecology and cultural history into the joy and excitement of maple syrup production. Fresh syrup will be available for purchase in the Sharon Audubon Center Nature Store while supplies last.  For more information on MapleFest or the Audubon Sharon sugaring operation, contact the Audubon Center at (860) 364-0520 or visit www.sharon.audubon.org.  Depending on sap flow, the sugarhouse will also be open each weekend in March for visitors.  Call ahead to see if Audubon staff will be boiling sap. 

At Warrups Farm on 11 John Read Rd. in Redding, visitors are welcome the first three weekends in March to watch the whole process, sap to syrup in the log cabin sugar house, to take a taste of the sap direct from the trees and as well as the almost-ready syrup. Guests can savor all of the harbingers of spring on a farm.  The sugaring demonstrations take place from noon to 5 p.m.  For more information www.warrupsfarm.com.

                                               

Special Maple Days

March 2

The Institute for American Indian Studies will have a different take on sugaring at its annual festival on the March 2.  Demonstrations in the outdoor Algonkian Village

 will show how local Native Americans traditionally made maple syrup and its importance to their culture. Pancakes made by IAIS staff will be served with local maple syrup. The festival will take place from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Fee: $10 Adults; $8 Children. www.iaismuseum.org.

The Indian Rock Nature Preserve located on 501 Wolcott Rd. in Bristol is hosting a maple sugaring and pancake breakfast on March 2 from 8 a.m. – noon. Along with breakfast, visit with the farm animals and learn how maple syrup is produced from sap to syrup. Sample New England syrup, which will also be available for purchase. Admission is $8 for adults, $5 for children under 10 years old, and free for children under 2 years old. For more information call (860) 589-8200 or visit www.ELCCT.org.

Maple Sugar Saturday and Sunday at the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, the museum’s traditional family festival, will offer the chance to learn how sap from their own trees is made into syrup, to sample the syrup and to enjoy lots of fun for children including a scavenger hunt, maple-themed crafts, games, storytelling, and music. On Staurday, watch local chefs create delicious dishes using local maple syrup and vote for your favorite.  On Sunday, enjoy the populat pancake brunch from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.  Admission fees: Members $5, non-members $10, kids 3 and under free. www.stamfordmuseum.org.

March 9

The Annual Maple Festival at Sweet Wind Farm in East Hartland will be a busy day with a tree tapping demonstration, maple syrup and sugar making with free syrup samples at the sugar house, a narrated slide show and video, a cooking and recipe class story time for kids, and --almost everyone’s favorite activity-- a sugar-on-snow candy making demonstration. The event takes place rain or shine from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  http://www.sweetwindfarm.net

March 2 – 3 and 9-10

At the Open House Maple Festival at the Great Brook Sugar House on Sullivan Farm, located on Rte. 202 in New Milford is a maple sugaring program for families on Saturdays and Sundays March 2,3,9 and 10 from 10 a.m. – 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Participants will learn the natural and cultural history of maple sugar as well as try the bit brace drill, see sap flowing as well as cook and taste the syrup. For more information http://sullivanfarmnm.org.

March 16

This busiest March weekend is when the New Canaan Nature Center  from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. will hold tree-tapping demos, and a real maple sap boil down at their Sugar Shack, as well as give a look at historic methods of making maple syrup. Families can also enjoy a delicious Pancake Brunch with maple syrup, join naturalists for a hike along "Maple Lane" to learn tree identification tips, warm up around the campfire to share tall tales, make a Maple craft and take home souvenir treats from a Maple Bake Sale.  Members $8 and non-Members $12, kids 2 and under free.

Audubon Sharon will be holding its annual MapleFest on Saturday, March 16 between 10 am and 4 pm at the Sharon Audubon Center, Route 4, Sharon, CT.  On-going guided 40-minute tours will lead visitors through the Center’s sugaring operation, including a working sugarhouse and a re-creation of Native American and early colonial sugaring methods.  Participants can watch as pure sugar maple sap is collected from the trees and turned into delicious maple syrup.    Admission for the event is $5.00 adults and $3.00 children.    This hands-on, sensory-based experience focuses on trees as living organisms and the concept of sustainable agriculture in a forest ecosystem. Our teaching method incorporates forest ecology and cultural history into the joy and excitement of maple syrup production. Fresh syrup will be available for purchase in the Sharon Audubon Center Nature Store while supplies last.  For more information on MapleFest or the Audubon Sharon sugaring operation, contact the Audubon Center at (860) 364-0520 or visit www.sharon.audubon.org.  Depending on sap flow, the sugarhouse will also be open each weekend in March for visitors.  Call ahead to see if Audubon staff will be boiling sap.