In the fall of 1973, when looking to buy some acreage, I spotted a row of crimson-leaved sugar maples on a property for sale in East Concord, NH. That property is now Mapletree Farm.
In 1975 during our first season, we put out 100-bucket taps and boiled on a 2′ x 6′ wood-fired evaporator set up outdoors. Despite the lack of a sugarhouse for shelter, 30 gallons of maple syrup were produced that first year. That first boil in March of 1975 started a neighborhood tradition, a spring ritual that has expanded to include tapping sugar maples up and down Oak Hill Road. We now tap trees belonging to ten of our neighbors.
A chance encounter in 2010 brought Robert to Mapletree Farm, where he and Dean got the chance to talk maple in depth. Over the years since, Robert and Dean have worked together in the woods, boiled a lot of sap in the “old” sugarhouse and shared with each other “little tricks”, sometimes very subtle, to make our syrup even better.
In recent years, Dean and Robert have formed a partnership plan to continue Mapletree Farm into the future. The plan, although an evolution unto itself, has included the recent sugarhouse construction project and some equipment replacements and upgrades.
Dean Wilber & Robert Saunders, Artisans
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