Maple syrup season has started in Massachusetts and here's why it won't last long
NATICK - It's officially maple syrup season in Massachusetts.
"Maple season is about a six-week window from when you tap the tree to when you're done collecting sap from the tree," said Haley Goulet of the Natick Community Organic Farm.
They just tapped their first trees this month for maple production. The farm is celebrating their 50th anniversary this year and they're still perfecting the process.
When to tap a maple tree for sap
"Tap too early and the sap won't be running. Tap too late and the sap will have turned bitter," the farm's Emily Johnson told WBZ-TV.
To tap the trees, the temperatures at night have to be below freezing and the days around 40 degrees.
The trees also have to be at least 40 years old. How do they figure that out? They measure the diameter to make sure it's 31 inches or more.
"We have a bunch of different sites where we collect maple syrup," Goulet said.
Turning maple sap into maple syrup
From Natick, Sherborn, Wellesley and Dover, the farm collects local maple sap produced as the trees feed their buds ahead of spring. Goulet said the time it takes to boil the sap to turn it into syrup depends on the weather and the sap's water content.
"We need to get up to 500 gallons before we even light the pan," she told WBZ. As the seasons begin to change, so does the color of the syrup.
"This early, we'll have a light amber color syrup at the end of our boil and as we progress through the season it will get a lot darker and a lot richer," Goulet said.
Maple sugar tours
That's why you'll notice all the different colors of amber syrup at the farm's maple museum. The experience is part of a tour offered for the six weeks of maple season.
"We have people that come back time and time again and they always notice something new," Johnson said.
The tours are an hour long and cost $10.
For more information, visit their website.
