With maple syrup flowing across the Northeast, that means one thing. It’s sugar shack season! One of my family’s fun traditions is picking a Saturday in March and going on a sugar shack tour while loading up with all the maple syrup goodies.

What You Need To Know

  • Maple sap has started to flow, with the run usually lasting 4 to 6 weeks

  • Mild days and sub-freezing nights are great conditions for sap to flow

  • Pure maple syrup is nothing more than boiled down sap

Did you know it takes 30 to 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup? Maple syrup is boiled down and concentrated sap.

The optimal conditions for sap to start flowing are when temperatures climb into the 40s by day and dip back down below freezing at night.

That temperature change results in changes in pressure within the tree that allows the sap to flow.

If it gets too warm too soon, the tree will bud too early, and sap flow will slow down or even stop. If it’s too cold, the sap slows down to a crawl.

This is why March is the perfect month for maple syrup production. Luckily, we have a nice stretch of optimal sap production weather coming up.

If temperatures warm too fast, the tree will come out of dormancy and start producing what’s called a green sap. This usually results in a bitter flavor and signifies the end of the run.

If temperatures aren’t cold enough during the winter (we need lots of sub-freezing weather), there won’t be as much sugar in the sap. This produces a darker and less sweet but more maple-flavored syrup.

The lighter syrup usually results in a sweeter and better-tasting variety. Our stretch of sub-freezing temperatures this past winter should help out with our flavor this year.

Now it’s just a matter of not warming up too soon. Luckily, temperatures have settled after a couple of days of historic warmth. That means the sap is flowing and providing us with that amber gold.

Enjoy!