This Sunday is Maine Maple Sunday. Each spring, Maine’s maple producers celebrate Maine Maple Sunday – the day when sugar makers around the state open the doors of their sugarhouses to the public.
On Sunday, the public will get the chance to see first hand how 40 gallons of maple sap is turned into just one gallon of that golden delight poured over hot pancakes…or ice cream.
Maine Maple Sunday is always the fourth Sunday in March. Most sugarhouses offer free tasting and a live demonstration of how syrup is produced, from tap to table.
Many offer a variety of other treats and activities, including syrup on pancakes or ice cream, sugarbush tours, sleigh or wagon rides, and lots more. Many sugarhouses will arrange special tours and demonstrations for groups on other days as well – call them to make arrangements.
Enjoy the first sweet taste of spring in Maine!
Here’s a list of some local sugarhouses participating in this year’s Maine Maple Sunday.
Brookridge Boilers, Lyman.
Offering guided sugarbush tours, syrup-making demonstrations as well as free syrup and food samples.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 490-2957.
Cooper’s Maple Products, 81 Chute Road, Windham.
Syrup-making demonstrations all day. Sample maple products and free maple sundae. See trees tapped, walking farm tour with beef cattle, calves, miniature horses, peacocks, pheasants and ostrich. Also, there will be a pancake breakfast.
Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 892-7276, or e-mail gmcooper81@aol.com.
Gile’s Family Farm, Route 202, Alfred
Watch maple syrup being made in an authentic Shaker barn. Serving their famous apple crisp with maple syrup.
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 324-2944 or e-mail fboucher@psouth.net.
Grandpa Joe’s Sugar House, 103 Murch Road, North Baldwin.
Samples of pure Maine maple syrup on homemade ice cream. Fourth annual Maple Sunday Cook-off at noon. Bring a dish made with Maine maple syrup and you may win a prize. Sponsored by North Baldwin Fire Auxiliary. Hot dogs steamed in sap, coffee.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 787-2903.
Greene Maple Farm, 77 Bridgton Road, East Sebago.
Sample maple syrup on ice cream. Self-guided sugarbush tour. Pancake breakfast at Sebago Town Hall from 8 a.m. to noon.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 787-2424.
Lovers Lane Sugar House, 89C Lovers Lane, Gorham
Sample maple syrup over ice cream. Demonstration of syrup-making process. Also self-guided sugarbush tours.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 839-2921.
Maple Hill Farm, Old Limington Road, Cornish
Hay rides (weather permitting), alpacas, sheep, maple syrup on ice cream, farm store open with maple syrup, jams, apple products, fresh eggs, alpaca clothing and yarns.
Open 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call 625-8920.
Merrifield Farms, 195 North Gorham Road, Gorham
Syrup making demonstrations. Free sample syrup over ice cream. Pancake breakfast, soft serve maple ice cream, cotton candy, maple candy and butter and cream available. Barn tours, ox demo.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 892-5061.
Nash Valley Farm, Nash Road, Windham
Boiling demonstrations, maple donuts, maple cotton candy, hard maple candy lollipops, and maple candies. Enjoy a horse-drawn hayride.
Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 892-7019.
Parsons Maple Products, 316 Buck Street, Gorham
Sample maple syrup over ice cream. Sugarbush tours. Demonstration of syrup-making process. See oxen.
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 839-4466.
Pingree’s Maple Syrup, 74 High Road, Cornish
Sample syrup on ice cream. Watch the whole sugar-making process. Maple syrup and maple candy available for sale.
Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 625-3908.
Phone: 207-625-3908
Pumpkin Hill Sugar House, 12 Pumpkin Hill Road, Gorham
Syrup-making demonstration. Sample maple syrup over ice cream. Maple syrup and candy available for sale. Ployes (French pancakes) breakfast available. You can see the maple sled-pulling Saint Bernards.
Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 892-9387, or e-mail pumpkinhill@prodigy.net.
Rail Trail Farm, Route 202, Hollis
Sample syrup over ice cream or baked beans made with maple syrup. Ride on a pony, sleigh or wagon around the woods passing tapped trees. Demonstration of syrup-making process.
Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call 929-5234.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
