It’s early March, about 9:30 p.m., with temperatures in the 20s. Most working adults who live in North Andover, MA, are getting ready for bed, settling down to recharge their batteries for the next day at the office.
For Paul Boulanger and his fiancée, Kathy Gallagher, however, the night routine is slightly different. Instead of donning lounging clothes or reading glasses, Paul slips on his work boots, pulls out his warmest hat and gloves, and heads out into the cold night air to empty his buckets. His specially outfitted pickup truck, which contains a 425-gallon holding tank in its bed, serves as the depository for his efforts. If he’s lucky the miner headlight will stay in his pocket and the moonlight will guide him on his journey, illuminating the snow-covered ground as he visits a grove of sugar maple trees nestled on a ridge above a local nursing home. Maybe he’ll spot an owl, swooping silently through the shadowy woods, or see a herd of deer, bedded down among the pines.
It’s not backbreaking labor, collecting the sap from the hanging buckets—in some places, modern plastic tubing allows the sap to run from the trees into a smaller holding tank, which Paul then empties into his larger one. But over the span of about three hours, Paul will visit over 500 taps, then drive back to the couple’s 24’ x 30’ maple sugar house on Turtle Lane to offload, filter, and store the sap, followed by cleaning his equipment and hoses. Paul will repeat the entire collection process the next night, the next night, and the next night after that—all the while holding down a full-time job—until the end of March. For more details on the process of making maple syrup, click here.
Meanwhile, back at the sugar house, Kathy is busy herself with maple-related duties. On any given night she may be making labels, cleaning the sugar house, bottling syrup, cleaning equipment, updating the Farm’s website, or coordinating tours. That’s on top of all her other jobs, such as mothering four children and working full time.
The sugar house is nestled in the woods behind Paul and Kathy’s home. Photo by Kevin Harkins.
To say that maple syrup is Paul and Kathy’s passion might be an understatement—but it’s a passion that they’re equally passionate about sharing with the community. The doors at Turtle Lane Maple Farm, nestled in the suburban woods of North Andover, are always open to visitors. The hands-on tours, for which reservations are suggested, last about an hour, are completely free, and only run from late February to late March, a timeframe known as sugaring season. Although Kathy and Paul do sell their maple syrup and a small amount of maple candy, this is not a business that’s run with the bottom line in mind. Instead, they see it as an investment in their community, a chance to educate people about a historical agricultural process that’s unique to North America, and an opportunity to teach young children about natural resources, among other things.
“We’ve been very lucky in our careers,” says Kathy, “and we want to give back to the community. It’s so important that people understand about where food comes from and respect the environment.”
The residents, teachers, and town officials of North Andover not only agree, they help make it happen. Each year for the past several years the North Andover Board of Selectmen has granted Paul and Kathy permission to tap sugar maple trees on several parcels of town-owned property, including the Stevens Estate.
“We view this as an educational activity, and we support it entirely,” says Town Manager Mark Rees. “Every year Turtle Lane Maple Farm provides outreach to the town’s third-graders to view this historical activity, and it’s great.”
Several residents also let Paul tap trees on their property, but the community involvement doesn’t stop there. You can buy Turtle Lane Maple Syrup at Butcher Boy in North Andover or taste its unique flavor in the maple walnut ice cream sold at Mad Maggies on Route 125.
Or you can take a tour of the sugarhouse yourself, in the same way hundreds of kids from Brownie Troops, Boy Scouts, and Sargent Elementary School, to name just a few, have done over the past few years.
Paul and Kathy demonstrate how to tap a tree the old-fashioned way: drill a hole, insert a spout, gently tap it in, and hang the bucket. Photos by Kevin Harkins.
“The kids just love it,” says Karen Antczak, a third-grade teacher at Sargent who has visited the sugarhouse with her class for the past three years. “It touches on every aspect of the third-grade curriculum, from math, where we talk about measuring, to science, where we talk about weather and climate,” she says. “Our third-grade curriculum also includes history of North Andover, where we talk about local resources, and the kids come back to school and write about what they’ve learned.
“It’s also a very hands-on field trip, because the kids can taste the sap right out of the tree, and Paul and Kathy do a taste test with store-bought maple syrup versus homemade,” she continues. “After the field trip the kids talk about it all spring!”
This year, Turtle Lane Maple Farm and the outstanding educational presentation that Paul and Kathy have put together even caught the attention of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. On March 7th they will serve as hosts for the annual kickoff event for Maple Month, a celebration that may even include a visit from the governor himself. Now that’s sweet!
A Taste of Sugar on Turtle Lane – March / April 2008
Photo by Kevin Harkins.
It’s early March, about 9:30 p.m., with temperatures in the 20s. Most working adults who live in North Andover, MA, are getting ready for bed, settling down to recharge their batteries for the next day at the office.
For Paul Boulanger and his fiancée, Kathy Gallagher, however, the night routine is slightly different. Instead of donning lounging clothes or reading glasses, Paul slips on his work boots, pulls out his warmest hat and gloves, and heads out into the cold night air to empty his buckets. His specially outfitted pickup truck, which contains a 425-gallon holding tank in its bed, serves as the depository for his efforts. If he’s lucky the miner headlight will stay in his pocket and the moonlight will guide him on his journey, illuminating the snow-covered ground as he visits a grove of sugar maple trees nestled on a ridge above a local nursing home. Maybe he’ll spot an owl, swooping silently through the shadowy woods, or see a herd of deer, bedded down among the pines.
It’s not backbreaking labor, collecting the sap from the hanging buckets—in some places, modern plastic tubing allows the sap to run from the trees into a smaller holding tank, which Paul then empties into his larger one. But over the span of about three hours, Paul will visit over 500 taps, then drive back to the couple’s 24’ x 30’ maple sugar house on Turtle Lane to offload, filter, and store the sap, followed by cleaning his equipment and hoses. Paul will repeat the entire collection process the next night, the next night, and the next night after that—all the while holding down a full-time job—until the end of March. For more details on the process of making maple syrup, click here.
Meanwhile, back at the sugar house, Kathy is busy herself with maple-related duties. On any given night she may be making labels, cleaning the sugar house, bottling syrup, cleaning equipment, updating the Farm’s website, or coordinating tours. That’s on top of all her other jobs, such as mothering four children and working full time.
The sugar house is nestled in the woods behind Paul and Kathy’s home. Photo by Kevin Harkins.
To say that maple syrup is Paul and Kathy’s passion might be an understatement—but it’s a passion that they’re equally passionate about sharing with the community. The doors at Turtle Lane Maple Farm, nestled in the suburban woods of North Andover, are always open to visitors. The hands-on tours, for which reservations are suggested, last about an hour, are completely free, and only run from late February to late March, a timeframe known as sugaring season. Although Kathy and Paul do sell their maple syrup and a small amount of maple candy, this is not a business that’s run with the bottom line in mind. Instead, they see it as an investment in their community, a chance to educate people about a historical agricultural process that’s unique to North America, and an opportunity to teach young children about natural resources, among other things.
“We’ve been very lucky in our careers,” says Kathy, “and we want to give back to the community. It’s so important that people understand about where food comes from and respect the environment.”
The residents, teachers, and town officials of North Andover not only agree, they help make it happen. Each year for the past several years the North Andover Board of Selectmen has granted Paul and Kathy permission to tap sugar maple trees on several parcels of town-owned property, including the Stevens Estate.
“We view this as an educational activity, and we support it entirely,” says Town Manager Mark Rees. “Every year Turtle Lane Maple Farm provides outreach to the town’s third-graders to view this historical activity, and it’s great.”
Several residents also let Paul tap trees on their property, but the community involvement doesn’t stop there. You can buy Turtle Lane Maple Syrup at Butcher Boy in North Andover or taste its unique flavor in the maple walnut ice cream sold at Mad Maggies on Route 125.
Or you can take a tour of the sugarhouse yourself, in the same way hundreds of kids from Brownie Troops, Boy Scouts, and Sargent Elementary School, to name just a few, have done over the past few years.
Paul and Kathy demonstrate how to tap a tree the old-fashioned way: drill a hole, insert a spout, gently tap it in, and hang the bucket. Photos by Kevin Harkins.
“The kids just love it,” says Karen Antczak, a third-grade teacher at Sargent who has visited the sugarhouse with her class for the past three years. “It touches on every aspect of the third-grade curriculum, from math, where we talk about measuring, to science, where we talk about weather and climate,” she says. “Our third-grade curriculum also includes history of North Andover, where we talk about local resources, and the kids come back to school and write about what they’ve learned.
“It’s also a very hands-on field trip, because the kids can taste the sap right out of the tree, and Paul and Kathy do a taste test with store-bought maple syrup versus homemade,” she continues. “After the field trip the kids talk about it all spring!”
This year, Turtle Lane Maple Farm and the outstanding educational presentation that Paul and Kathy have put together even caught the attention of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. On March 7th they will serve as hosts for the annual kickoff event for Maple Month, a celebration that may even include a visit from the governor himself. Now that’s sweet!
For more information about Turtle Lane Maple Farm, maple sugaring in Massachusetts or New Hampshire, or other Maple Month activities, visit these websites:
www.turtlelanemaplefarm.com
www.massmaple.org
www.nhmapleproducers.com