FALMOUTH, Maine — University of Maine Cooperative Extension will offer an in-person maple syrup production workshop for beginners 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Jan. 29. The class first meets at Shaw Brothers Construction Company, 341 Mosher Road, Gorham, and finishes at Nash Valley Farm, 79 Nash Road, Windham. Snow date is Feb. 5.
“Backyard Sugaring: Maple Syrup 101” includes how to identify and tap trees; collect and boil sap; and filter, grade and can syrup. Participants also will observe the process of sap collection with tubing, and the logistics of installing and maintaining this collection method. UMaine Extension sustainable agriculture professional Jason Lilley; Richard Morrill, Nash Valley Farm co-owner, Windham; and Frank Ferrucci, Maple Moon Farm co-owner, Lebanon, will lead the workshop.
The $15 fee includes the textbook “Backyard Sugarin’: A Complete How-To Guide” by Rink Mann. Registration is required; register on the event webpage. Per University of Maine guidelines, face masks are required indoors for all, regardless of vaccination status. This program is sponsored by the Southern Maine Maple Sugarmakers Association.
For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Becky Gray, 207.781.6099; rebecca.gray@maine.edu.
University of Maine Cooperative Extension
As a trusted resource for over 100 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land and sea grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county. UMaine Extension helps support, sustain and grow the food-based economy. It is the only entity in our state that touches every aspect of the Maine Food System, where policy, research, production, processing, commerce, nutrition, and food security and safety are integral and interrelated. UMaine Extension also conducts the most successful out-of-school youth educational program in Maine through 4-H.
About the University of Maine
The University of Maine, founded in Orono in 1865, is the state’s land grant, sea grant and space grant university, with a regional campus at the University of Maine at Machias. UMaine is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation. UMaine Machias is located in the homeland of the Passamaquoddy Nation. As Maine’s flagship public university, UMaine has a statewide mission of teaching, research and economic development, and community service. UMaine is the state’s only public research university and among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast. It attracts students from all 50 states and 81 countries. UMaine currently enrolls 11,989 undergraduate and graduate students, and UMaine Machias enrolls 747 undergraduates. Our students have opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research with world-class scholars. UMaine offers more than 100 degree programs through which students can earn master’s, doctoral or professional science master’s degrees, as well as graduate certificates. UMaine Machias offers 18 degree programs. The university promotes environmental stewardship, with substantial efforts campuswide to conserve energy, recycle and adhere to green building standards in new construction. For more information about UMaine and UMaine Machias, visit umaine.edu and machias.edu.
–University of Maine Cooperative Extension