By Jodi Wolfe
Staff Writer

The bitterness that sometimes comes with Town Meeting season during at the beginning of March in New Hampshire is sweetened by the taste of fresh maple syrup toward the end of the month.

STEAMY WORK – Donald Ross of Rossview Farm in Concord demonstrates how maple syrup is made. Tree sap is put into the evaporator and boiled to evaporate the water found in sap. The sap is cooked to the right thickness for delicious syrup. (Jodi Wolfe Photo)

Every year, New Hampshire maple producers create around 90,000 gallons of maple syrup. Last year, 83,000 gallons were produced in New Hampshire, according to Barbara Lassonde, publicist for the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association.

The best time to make maple syrup is when the temperature is below freezing at night and above freezing during the day.

Maple syrup is made by drilling holes into trees, inserting a spout and then attaching a tin or plastic bucket to the tree to catch the sap, said Lassonde.

The sap is boiled to evaporate the water to make the thick syrup. If the sap is cooked longer, it becomes maple sugar, she said. Maple cream is whipped sugar. People can also make maple mustard, maple peppers and maple barbecue sauce.

During the weekend of March 19 and 20, more than 60 sugar houses participated in New Hampshire Maple Weekend. The weekend involve tens of thousands of tourists visiting the New Hampshire farms for maple syrup demonstrations, sampling maple cream, maple candy and sugar on snow, said Lassonde.

Sugar on snow is when sap is cooked beyond syrup and placed on snow or ice to harden like taffy.

"That's old-time treat," said Lassonde.

Participants in New Hampshire Maple Weekend:
Rossview Farm, Concord
Rossview Farm got into the maple syrup business when Donald Ross, along with his father, Wayne Ross, purchased a new evaporator in 1999.

"Tradition inspired me," said Donald Ross, who is slowly taking over the farm as his parents retire. "Being a farmer, we have to utilize our natural resources. Mother Nature blessed us with good healthy sugar maples on our property."

Ross enjoys the scientific aspects of making syrup, dealing with friction, energy, heat, temperature and volume density, he said.

The northeastern part of North America is also the only place on the planet where maple sugar is produced, he said.

"Once you see the sap run, you know that spring is here," said Wayne Ross. "The chill of winter is behind us and spring is upon us."

Last year, they produced 150 gallons of maple syrup, and this year they expect to produce more after adding additional taps, said Ruth Ross, Wayne's wife.

Due to weather constraints, Thursday, March 17, was the first time they were able to boil.

"It looks like we'll have a good season, but it's late," Wayne Ross said. "It's what Mother Nature gave us and we'll do our best to cope with it."

It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, said Donald Ross.

"We boil 240 gallons of sap in an hour to make six gallons of syrup," he said.

This is Rossview Farm's third year participating in New Hampshire Maple Weekend. As part of the festivities, the Rosses offered ice cream with maple syrup, wagon rides, a live band and a sawmill demonstration.

Wayne Ross said he enjoys seeing people, seeing them enjoy the harvest and visiting with them during Maple Weekend.

Rossview Farm's major product is strawberries. They also specialize in blueberries, pumpkins and Christmas trees.

Allen Acres Maple Grove, Weare
At Allen Acres Maple Grove, brother-and-sister team Robin and Doug Illsey are third generation maple syrup producers.

They grew up watching their grandfather and father produce maple syrup and were inspired to get into the business ten years after their father retired, said Robin Illsey.

She said her favorite part of the process is boiling the sap into syrup, while she dislikes setting up the taps in the cold, rain and snow.

Her job is boiling the sap as her brother collects it from the trees, and they always compete to see who can work faster and bury the other one in work. "Last year, he won in spades," she said.

Their farm produces about 200 gallons of syrup a year.

"Last year was an excellent year," she said.

They also make some other products, but mostly maple syrup, she said.

Allen Acres has participated in Maple Weekend for the past two or three years.

"I like seeing the people when they come out," she said.

Making maple syrup as a hobby
Dennis Lewis, Candia Dennis Lewis has been making maple syrup since he was a child growing up in Candia. Now he shares his hobby with his wife and children who help him.

"It's just a hobby that I enjoy," he said.

He usually sets up 150 to 300 taps, depending on the year, producing between 25 and 80 gallons of syrup a year.

"Every year is different," he said. "This year is the latest we've ever had."

Usually he has finished by March 17, but he hadn't even started boiling this year by that date.

Gary Falkengren, Bedford
Gary Falkengren started producing maple syrup at his Bedford home last year after his three children asked about making it.

"We talked to some friends who made it, and it seemed pretty easy," he said.

They went to Bedford Fields to purchase taps, buckets and a book on how to make maple syrup.

"It was a lot easier than I thought it would be," he said.

Last year they started late in the season and only made three batches of two or three pints. This year, they put taps on five trees and have already produced a quart of syrup.

They collect the sap every two to three days and then boil it in a big turkey fryer outside. It's the job of his children, Erik, 11; Syrena, 9 and Sofie, 4, to check the buckets.

Before boiling the syrup, they put it through a filter it to get rid of bugs, which is the yucky part, said Syrena.

Everyone's favorite part is tasting the syrup.

"It tastes like heaven," said Erik.

He also enjoys having maple syrup on vanilla ice cream. Sofie likes her maple syrup on frozen yogurt.

Initially the sap is very sweet and a light color of amber. As the season progresses, the syrup becomes less sweet and darker, said Erik.

While she didn't like the homemade syrup at first, Syrena said now she doesn't like storebought syrup.

Making maple syrup has given his children a new appreciation for manual labor, said Falkengren.

"My kids used to pour syrup on pancakes and things without regard for (how much they were using)," he said. "Now they know how much work goes into it."