Are you ready for Maine Maple Weekend? Do you have room for the fresh 2019 maple syrup harvest? Are you making everything maple flavored this week to use up the left-overs of last year?
Having to work on Sundays for over a decade, I first got to participate in this celebration only two years ago. It immediately became something that I absolutely look forward to. It's a wonderful relief from cabin fever and the beginning of mud season, a welcome and joyous embrace of Lady Spring.
Last year, we got to tour some of our close-to-home sugar houses. We enjoyed incredibly fluffy pancakes at Morin's Sugar House in Limerick, picked up delicious hearty maple beans from Rocky Mountain Farm in Porter, and finished our journey at Pingree Maple Products in Cornish.
There are so many choices and hopefully your sweet tooth is calling. All participating sugarhouses are open on Maine Maple Sunday, which takes place this year on March 24th, 2019, but there are a few sugar houses that are open both days of the weekend. Hilltop Boilers is featuring Axe Women of Maine and Wildlife Encounters exclusively on Saturday. It might be a good strategy to go on a seemingly less crowded day, but it would be a good idea to check who is open when. You can easily make out your own route by using the Maine Maple Producers Association website.
There's a good concentration of sugar houses around Route 11, starting in Newfield. If you begin at Thurston and Peters Sugarhouse, LLC, continue to Sugar Hill Maple Products, Hilltop Boilers, Curran Homestead Village (70 Elm St, Newfield), Morin's Sugar House, and Alderwood Farms.
Many other local businesses are celebrating the weekend by offering special hours, such as Humphreys BBQ in Newfield which is usually only open by appointment on the weekends. Our fingers are crossed that Sugar N' Spice Bakery in Kezar Falls will be serving up their Maple Pecan Scones this weekend.
Don't forget to ask locals where their favorite places are, some of the best finds aren't on a map.
We hope you have a sweet and safe weekend. Happy Spring!
By: Dasha Smirnova
Did we miss any local events or sugar shacks? Let us know! sacopeevalleynews@gmail.com
