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MAKE MAPLE SYRUP

All you need are some buckets, several sugar maple trees, a big pan for boiling the sap, and patience, lots of patience.

It takes about ten gallons of sap to produce a single quart of maple syrup, but is there much sense going to all the trouble for less than a gallon? The University of Maine Extension Service offers directions for tapping trees and collecting and boiling down the sap. Any maple tree will work, but sugar maples work best. Sugar content also varies from tree to tree, or by time of day.

Anyone lacking the time or trees to create their own maple syrup can do the next best thing: Visit one of more than five dozen sugarhouses on Maine Maple Sunday, the fourth Sunday in March (many are also open that Saturday) to see a demonstration of how maple syrup is made, try syrup samples, and enjoy other activities. Syrup and other maple goodies will most certainly be available for purchase at the sugarhouses.