By CRAIG FREILICH The second of the two Maple Weekends in the North Country this year is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3, and reports are that production conditions improved since the …
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By CRAIG FREILICH
The second of the two Maple Weekends in the North Country this year is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 2 and 3, and reports are that production conditions improved since the first Maple Weekend two weeks before.
The weather wasn’t cooperating with maple producers near here earlier in March, as the required below-freezing temperatures at night and the above-freezing readings during the day just didn’t seem to materialize, at least not well enough for good sap runs.
“But I’m feeling much better about it,” said Don Finen of Fine-n-Dandy at 2620 County Rt. 35 in Norwood.
He said that he had collected enough sap to run his boiler in the last few days 13 hours one day and eight hours the next day, “and some people were open later than that.”
But he said he couldn’t speak for other producers, not even his son, Jim, who lives about a mile and a half away at Finen’s Maple Products, 529 Austin Ridge Road in Norwood.
“There are mini-climates that make a difference,” he said. “Jim and I live close to each other, and we usually do similarly, but sometimes it’s the complete opposite.”
He thought the producers in Colton, Hannawa Falls and into the mountains might still get a few days of production while it warms up some more and closes out the season in the St. Lawrence Valley.
“I’m happy things are good here. Here’s hoping,” he said.
The two annual maple weekends, sponsored in part by state tourism authorities, offer the public the chance to meet the producers, try some sample maple products, and take tours of their operations. Some will have pancake breakfasts with maple syrups, and some offer horse-drawn cart rides into their sugarbushes. The weekends, usually two weekends in a row, were broken up this year to make way for the Easter holiday.
There is a list of producers offering tours and more this Saturday and Sunday at the St. Lawrence County maple Producers Association Maple Weekend page, http://www.slcmaple.com/maple-info/maple-weekend.