Governor to kick off NH Maple Month

Mapletree Farm to host the annual Gubernatorial Maple Tree Tapping

UNION — The New Hampshire Maple Producers Association welcomes the public to kick off New Hampshire Maple Month with a ceremonial maple tree-tapping event with Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday, March 5, at 11:30 a.m. at Mapletree Farm, 105 Oak Hill Road in Concord.

For nearly 50 years, the Governor’s Tap has welcomed the start of maple sugaring season in New Hampshire. Each year, the event is hosted by a different sugarhouse to highlight the richness of the state’s maple sugaring landscape.

Mapletree Farm’s sugarmaker Dean Wilber has been making maple syrup for 73 years. He remembers being seven years old and driving his uncle’s horses in his sugarbush. A lot has changed in maple sugaring techniques since then as visitors to Mapletree Farm will see.

This year marks the 45th year of maple sugaring at Mapletree Farm’s current location where a state-of-the-art sugarhouse expansion took place in 2017. The sugarhouse sits on the edge of New Hampshire’s largest and, perhaps the only, tapped, planted maple orchard.

New Hampshire Maple Month continues throughout March, celebrating New Hampshire’s maple sugaring tradition. Over the weekends of March 7-8, March 14-15, March 21-22 and March 29-29, sugarhouses across the state welcome the public to come experience the process of maple sugaring, with many offering sugaring demonstrations, free tours, samples and family-friendly activities. The largest event, the 25th annual New Hampshire Maple Weekend, takes place March 21-22.

For more information about the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association, Inc., visit nhmapleproducers.com.