Maple Syrup: North Hadley Sugar Shack

Hello again, everyone! This week, I am making multiple posts since I meant to post this last week but it completely escaped my mind. Last weekend, my friends from CEEDS went to the North Hadley Sugar Shack to learn how maple syrup is made and to have a tasty, local breakfast.

Maple syrup is made by tapping maple trees (usually sugar maple, red maple, and black maple) to collect their sap. Ideally, the sap is collected when the tree just starts growing buds, when the tree pulls water up from the roots in the morning, and again when the water goes back down to the roots in the evening. The sap is then boiled down to make syrup once the water evaporates. The more water evaporates. the more concentrated the syrup becomes. If heated for long enough until the syrup is 270 degrees, the syrup harden and will turn into candy once cooled off. If the syrup is heated past that, it will eventually boil down to just pure maple sugar.

Eighteen years ago, the North Hadley Sugar Shack opened as a family owned and operated business off of Route 47  in the Pioneer Valley. They make local maple syrup by tapping trees  (still using the bucket system!) right outside of their facility, as well as a couple of miles away.  On site, they have an evaporating room with a steam evaporator, which they have recently upgraded to a more efficient system. Once you've completed the self-guided maple-making tour (complete with samples of maple syrup, a candy making demonstration, and homemade cider donuts) you can go inside to their diner and have some freshly made pancakes with a side of freshly made maple syrup.