“Historic,” “uncharacteristic” and “much above normal” is how some are describing the current weather pattern that’s impacting Maine’s maple producers. While the milder weather has been easy on the pocketbook with lower heating and plowing bills, it revved up the sap to start flowing nearly a month ahead of nature’s typical schedule. Lyle Merrifield, president of the Maine Maple Producers Association, said southern producers are “in limbo because the season came on very quickly and weather pushed the season off to a quick hurry.” Merrifield expressed concern that warmer temperatures may even exhaust the flow of sap in some parts of the state before Maine Maple Sunday on March 28. But, he said, northern producers have a better shot for sap to keep flowing during the annual statewide celebration when sugarhouses throw open their doors for tours, demonstrations and taste tests.
Unprecedented season
At Bradbury Maple Farms, Charlene Bradbury said, “we never made maple syrup before March 20. This year we made our first batch the first day of March. It was historic.”
Two weather patterns are responsible for the unusual weather according to Mark Bloomer, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “A high pressure system stalled north of Labrador and a low pressure system settled in the Canadian Maritimes. So, winter was warmer than usual,” explained Bloomer.
Bradbury said production of her Grade-A maple syrup is probably going to be up this year. “We will be here for the open house on Maine Maple Sunday even if the sap stops running. Normally it runs until the middle of April when the trees bud. Then, it stops. We have no way of knowing when that will be this year.”
Weather aside, Bradbury said there will be tours, and demonstrations for the next three weekends. One particular favorite for children and adults is making taffy on the snow by using flat wooden sticks to roll up reduced syrup that hardens on fresh snow. “Who knows. We may have a big snowstorm. That could happen anytime from now until May,” said Bradbury. If snow doesn’t arrive in time, she has a back-up plan. “We are going to make a big pile of snow and keep it protected.”
Visitors amazed
The Bradbury’s like other producers give visitors an insider’s view into the labor-intensive process of making maple syrup and related products.
Laurel Rudolph, 17, from Truckee, Calif. is in Maine for the Junior Olympics with the Far West Nordic team. “It was really interesting to see how they got the sap out of the trees and turned it into syrup. It was really cool.” Her mother, Cathy Rudolph, said, “It’s just amazing and fun. We’ve never seen anything like this. There’s a beautiful aroma of maple and you feel like you’re walking into someone’s kitchen. It’s just wonderful.”
Maine produces 215,000 gallons of the versatile sweetener that cooks use to compliment and transform a variety of foods. It ranks just behind Vermont and New York in the country’s multi-million dollar maple syrup industry.
The Bradburys produce several hundred gallons of their prized maple syrup each year. They bottle the syrup and create other products that include barrel or moose-shaped suckers, jelly, cotton candy, maple cream (Charlene’s favorite), maple sugar and maple candy.
Bradbury and her husband have co-owned their business for 26 years. But, the property actually dates back 75 years in the family history. They have more than 3,000 taps on their trees across 80 acres. Sap flows through an intricate network of tubing into a building where, after several processes to remove water, it becomes syrup. The Bradburys say it takes 40 gallons of sap to make just one gallon of syrup.
Bradbury’s open houses will run from 1-5 p.m., March 20-21, March 27-28 and April 3-4. They are located in Bridgewater just off U.S. 1 at 202 BootFoot Rd. Tours during the week are by appointment. For more information, call: 399-1979.
