Maine Maple Sunday weekend sounds simple enough. It’s a weekend, in Maine, where you get maple syrup.

But the event, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, is so much more. It’s the one time of year when you can explore more than 100 sugarhouses and farms all over the state and get detailed explanations of the skill and science that goes into syrup making. You can drive all over the state and visit maple farms all day long.

You get to try treats you’ve only dreamt about, from maple cotton candy to maple ice cream. You can eat breakfast in the company of several hundred new friends while looking over pristine Maine farm land. And you can try doing things you’ve never tried before, such as guessing a pig’s weight or watching people wield axes.

Here are some suggestions for ways to make the most of Maine Maple Sunday weekend. Admission and some samples are free, but syrup and other treats are offered for sale. For more ideas, check out our list of 30 participating sugarhouses in southern Maine. Some places will be open Sunday only, so check before going.

This annual event started as simply one day, Maine Maple Sunday. But as you’ll see after learning all that it offers, it was just too sweet a deal to confine to Sunday alone.

DELICIOUS DEMOS

Lots of sugarhouses let people in for tours and to see the syrup-making process. Some will offer tours out among the trees, too. At Fairwinds Farm in Topsham, there will be detailed demonstrations at 10 am. and 2 p.m. each day in its brand-new sugar shack. People can learn about tapping trees, collecting sap, boiling, filtering, bottling and then finally, grading the syrup.

Some of the other places letting people peek into the syrup-making process this year include Royal River Orchards in New Gloucester, Ricker Hill Orchards in Turner, Gray Farm Maple in Denmark and Waterhouse Family Farm in Hollis.

PART OF A NUTRIOUS BREAKFAST 

One of the great lures of Maine Maple Sunday weekend is to have somebody else make you a pancake breakfast featuring the best syrup you’ve ever tasted. At 207 Tappers in Biddeford, you can have breakfast in The Barn, with maple coffee. At Coopers Maple Products in Windham, the pancake breakfast is served Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., so you don’t have to be an early riser to enjoy it.

At Merrifield Farm in Gorham, which serves a pancake breakfast outside, you can also eat a hearty breakfast (or lunch) of maple baked beans and hot dogs. Some of the other places offering a pancake breakfast include Parsons Maple Products in Gorham (indoors) and Dunn Family Maple in Buxton.

LIFE ON THE FARM 

Since many maple producers run a farm, it’s a good chance to do things city slickers seldom do. Hilltop Boilers Maple Syrup in Newfield is holding a Guess the Pig’s Weight contest and will have all sorts of animals to see and tractors to drive. The place is also hosting shows by the Axe Woman Loggers of Maine, so you can see the skill (and danger) involved in using an ax efficiently.

At Highland Farms Sugar Works and Dairy in Cornish, you can meet Mr. Maple, a baby jersey cow. You can also buy fresh meat and cheese along with syrup and maple goodies. At Dads Maple Sugar Shack in Naples, there are tours of the farm, where you can see horses, chickens and Angora rabbits.

HAPPY TRAILS 

If you want, you can create your own Maple Trail, a loop of three, four or more sugarhouses you can visit within a few miles of each other. Consider the greater Newfield/West Newfield area, for instance, in northern York County near the New Hampshire border. While there, you can visit Thurston & Peters Sugarhouse in West Newfield, Hilltop Boilers Maple Syrup in Newfield, and then drive to Scenic View Sugaring and Alderwood Farms, both one town over in Limerick.

Closer to Portland, you can hit four places in Gorham alone: Merrifield Farm, Spiller Country Farm, Parsons Maple Products and The Lockman Place.

MAKE MINE MAPLE 

Discovering new ways to enjoy maple syrup and maple sugar is an important part of Maine Maple Sunday weekend. You can try maple cotton candy and maple kettle corn at Harris Farm in Dayton. Maple-coated nuts, maple fudge and maple buttercreams are on the menu at Nash Valley Farm in Windham. You’ll find maple whoopie pies and maple salsa at Greene Maple Farm in Sebago. Marcoux Family Farm in Wiscasset has a large array of treats that will include maple Needhams and freeze-dried maple marshmallows.

You can find detailed information on what every participating farm and sugarhouse around the state is offering, plus a map of where they are, at mainemapleproducers.com.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Norimoto’s egg sandwich shows off celebrated baker’s savory side

Next »

Staffing shortage forces Bao Bao Dumpling to close through March