Maple Sugaring

Throughout the history of Dublin School, students and faculty members have dabbled with the art of producing maple syrup, but until recently, operations remained fairly small and simple. Nowadays, small and simple operations are quaint, but modern methods must be embraced in order to achieve greater success. Dublin School’s outdoor program has done just this. To date, we have installed several miles of modern tubing throughout the woods on our campus. While nearly 100 buckets still hang from our trees in the weeks of late February and March, most of the maple sap travels by gravity through the tubing systems to collection tanks far down in the woods. For the past three years, dedicated students, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends have joined forces to tap nearly 800 trees and collect the thousands of gallons of sap that flow each spring.

Most recently, Dublin School teamed up with nearby Coll’s Farm in Jaffrey, NH  for our maple sap processing needs. In exchange for help around the farm, particularly with all tasks relating to maple, the Colls allow members of the Dublin community to use their sugarhouse to boil the sap into syrup and eventually package it. The sugarhouse, which features an old-fashioned, wood-fired evaporator along with more modern technology such as an Ultraviolet maple sap sterilization system, gives Dublin students a unique education outside of the classroom. In making syrup they learn about sugar content and its impact on syrup quality, weather and how it makes sap flow, methods to improve evaporation efficiency, and finally a little bit about marketing when it comes time to sell the final product. Above all, everyone has the opportunity to be a part of something from start to finish, and enjoy an experience that creates a sense of ownership that is uncommon in our modern world.

Finally, what makes the maple production program at Dublin so unique, is its ability to pay for itself. With no current input from the school’s overall finances, everything spent for the program is generated by its profits. So please, be a part of something great and come visit us at Coll’s Farm on Rt. 202 in Jaffrey, or check out our collection systems at Dublin School. Remember, our delicious maple syrup is available year round both at the school and through this website. We hope to see you!

To place an order, click here.