THE WARREN FARM & SUGARHOUSE

31 Warren St., North Brookfield, MA 01535 (508) 867-0174
www.thewarrenfarm.com

Dear Group Organizer,

While you are planning your excursions for the year, we would like to invite your group to tour our maple sugaring operation. The tour, approximately 50 minutes long, takes you on a guided and narrated walk through the history of maple sugaring. We will share stories about the Native Americans’ role in the early history of sugaring, and continue by demonstrating colonial methods and tools for collecting and boiling. Along the way visitors will explore two different systems used today, and will have an opportunity to see new technology. Aspects of science, meteorology, global warming, and math will be woven into the presentation. At the sugarhouse a large evaporator stands ready to receive sap from collection tanks outside. Here, everyone will learn how sap is boiled into syrup, and see the equipment and gauges needed for this process. The tour will end at the picnic table area so that everyone can sample fresh sap and pure maple syrup. This is certainly a tradition that has something of interest to all ages!

There are two tour packages. The first, at $7.00 per person, offers the complete tour, a taste of fresh maple sap and syrup, a 100 ml plastic jug of syrup, and a recipe booklet. The second package, at $12.00 per person, offers the first package but includes a slice of maple cheesecake and hot maple spiced cider as well! The Maple Store is filled with maple syrup, maple confections and other products we produce right here on the farm, and we accept all major credit cards.

There is ample parking for cars and vans, and room for a bus to maneuver. We strongly suggest that all attending should be dressed for an outdoor hike during cold, sometimes muddy, weather. Many of our March days are sunny but windy. The actual hike runs for about 1/8th of a mile total, up a slightly sloping trail and a short way down into the nearby woods. Boiling is weather-dependent and cannot be tied down to a schedule, but you may be lucky enough to see the boiling process itself during your tour!

Tour slots for groups are scheduled Mon. through Thurs. at 10:30 and 1:00, and weekends at 11:30 and 2:00, during the month of March. Please call as soon as possible to reserve your date and time.

We look forward to meeting you and sharing our love for sugaring,

Janice and Dale Wentworth

The Warren Farm & Sugarhouse