This prolonged thaw was not good sugaring weather. Without a freeze the sap runs lose their vigor. The freeze/thaw cycle builds pressure in the tree which propels the sap out the taphole. https://massmaple.org/about-maple-syrup/how-sugar-maple-trees-work/ As soon as the thaw commenced we scoured the weather forecasts for hints of a freezing night. Now that temps are below… Read More
Let’s Talk About the Weather 2025-2026
March 1st was the first day of Meteorological Spring, March 3rd was Town Meeting Day in Vermont, and therefore it’s entirely appropriate that this week would deliver the first major thaw and the first sap run of sugar season. We are curious to witness how many days of warm temps it takes to unlock the… Read More
Welcome, Sugar Season 2026
It is Year 47 for the Nebraska Knoll clan. The crew felt excited to get back into the woods two weeks ago for the annual visit to each sugar maple tree in our sugarbush, away from the raucous affairs of men toward the silent province of forests. Scientists have learned so much in recent years… Read More
The Story of the Season
Crew member Ana writes: Getting this long awaited dispatch was no easy feat; the only way to get my brain into work mode was with a hard deadline. Our sugar season could use a hard deadline as well. But as Lew says, “We will be waiting with bated breath.” I found an old interview that… Read More
That pie is so good it needs a tariff
Maple-glazed ham, scalloped potatoes, spring greens from Long Winter Farm, and, hmmm, what about dessert for Easter dinner? Maple Trout Lilli writes with a suggestion: SISTER’S SALTED MAPLE PIE This recipe has been adapted from Sister Pie, a cookbook from a bakery of the same name in Detroit. It’s a bit fussy, but totally worth… Read More
Count the Pails
For a while, the pail resting here on the plank stores sap for brewing coffee with.This pail, or bucket, hangs from a maple tree named Maggie. Sap drips into it; it holds sap.This other pail is for collecting sap from the bucket and lugging it to the sap tank. A green hose for rinsing sap… Read More
The Week in Review
Chief of Operation writes: Notes from a couple of memorable days of sugaring during the final week of March. March 27/28 March 29 6” snow last night, skied close to 2,000’ vertical through fresh powder from top of Morningside Ridge above our south-side sugarbush in the morning, slept all afternoon, temperature too cold most of… Read More
The Post-It Wall
Chief of Operations writes: —LC BONUS submission from Chops:
Maple Spiced Popcorn
QUICK UPDATE: On the Popcorn Scale, weather that’s good for munching popcorn is a 10, and weather that’s suitable for non-popcorn pleasures – let’s say opening one gate valve and closing another, or hosing down a sap tank, or trotting up and down stairs to and from the sap shed to monitor the sap run… Read More
Finally we’re at it
WEATHER: What a week. Sudden heat and many warm nights dissolved the pristine winter of 2025. HOW’S IT RUNNING? Two night-and-day runs, March 14-17 and March 18-20 were separated by a freezing night on the 17th. A freeze today, the 21st, and a forecast of a series of moderate freeze-thaw cycles are just what we… Read More
The Nebraska Knoll Blog 