The Upper Hudson Maple Producers Association will host three maple open house weekends, March 19 and 20, March 26 and 27, and April 2 and 3, allowing the public to take a free tour of area sugarhouses and see maple syrup made first-hand, a news release said.
“We’re inviting area families to come and experience first-hand the sights, smells and sounds of maple sugar-making,” David Campbell, a Salem producer and president of the Upper Hudson Maple Producers Association, said in a news release.
“The event has become so successful that we have expanded it to three weekends, giving folks more opportunity to come visit sugarhouses,” he said in the release.
Signs will be placed along roadsides over the course of the weekend to direct motorists to the sugarhouses. The sugarhouses will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
Most sugarhouses will offer samples and demonstrations. Many of the locations will be serving pancakes breakfasts as well, the release said.
Sugarhouses participating in the event are located throughout Washington, Warren, Saratoga, Rensselaer, Fulton and Montgomery counties.
The local sugarhouses include:
– Brower Road Sugar House, Gloversville, 848-7685
– Dry Brook Sugar House, Salem, 854-3955
– Frasiers Sugar Shack, St. Johnsville, 568-7438
– McComb’s Oak Hill Farm, Speculator, 548-6105
– Mud Road Sugar House, Ephratah, 863-6313
– Nightingale’s Maple Farm, Amsterdam, 882-9334
– Peaceful Valley Maple Farms, Johnstown, 762-0491
A tree-tapping ceremony to kick off the event will be held on March 18 at noon at 91 Ritchie Road, Middle Granville, with state agriculture and markets commissioner Richard Ball and local officials invited to participate.
Maple season generally runs from now through the middle of April. The Upper Hudson region is among the largest syrup producing areas in New York state.
To find more information about local sugarmaking and maple recipes, go to www.upperhudsonmaple.com, the release said.
