The owners of Homestead Maple in Chazy, NY show us what maple sugaring is like for them as they get ready for New York State Maple Weekend.

Alaina Pinto was live at the sugar house to try some other maple treats like maple soda, maple bacon and sap direct from the tree. In addition to tapping maple trees, the owners, Angela and David Swan, are experimenting  with tapping walnut trees.

For more information about Homestead Maple head to the website, here.

New York State Maple Weekend is March 19, 20 and April 2, 3. There are 20 different sugar houses participating this year offering free samples, tours and something special at each location. To learn more you can visit the website here.

Clinton, Essex, Franklin Counties, NY.  Tours from sap to syrup, tree to table, by tractor and horse-drawn wagon ride or on foot: maple sugarhouses in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties are ready to welcome visitors from 10 am to 4 pm on the March 19-20 and April 2-3 NYS Maple Weekends. Visitors who collect stickers or stamps from at least six of the sites will be entered into a drawing for a maple gift basket to be awarded April 12.
 
Pancake breakfasts are begin offered all day all four days at Maple Brook Farm in Essex and from 8 am to 1 pm all four days at Parker Family Maple Farm in West Chazy. Pancake breakfast will be served on Saturday, March 19 from 9 am to 12 pm at Moon Valley Maple in Malone, and from 9 am to 11 am at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.
 
In Clinton County in West Chazy:
.  Bechards Sugar House will offer tasting of their favorite maple recipes.
.  Not far away, Brows Sugarhouse makes maple brittle.
.  The Deno Family Sugar House is offering free samples of maple cream and candy as they make syrup.
.  Parker Family Maple Farm offers horse-drawn wagon rides and has maple cotton candy and creemees.
.  Sacred Roots Maple in West Chazy will offer sleigh rides and samples as the sap boils.
 
Elsewhere in Clinton County:
.  Brandy Brook Maple Farm in Ellenburg Center is planning a new maple winery.
.  Decoste Maple has a new wood-fired evaporator in use at their new sugarhouse in Mooers Forks.
.  Homestead Maple in Chazy has supplies for backyard sugarmakers and will demonstrate how to make your own maple soda.
.  Rand Hill Maple is a large-scale operation to see in Altona.
 
In Essex County:
.  Taste warm syrup samples fresh from the evaporator at Black Rooster Maple in Keene.
.  Tours at the Cornell University Uihlein Forest in Lake Placid include information on maple, birch and walnut syrup research and production.
.  Horse-drawn tours at Maple Brook Farm in Essex illustrate the history of maple production from bucket systems to vacuum tubing.
.  Try fresh doughnuts and maple cream at Maple Knoll Farm in Minerva, where they offer guided sap to syrup tours.
 
In Franklin County:
.  Take an interactive tour of the sugarhouse at Moon Valley Maple in Malone.
.  Paul Smiths College maintains a certified organic sugar bush, educational sugar house, and commercial maple operation in Paul Smiths. At the Visitor’s Interpretive Center, maple and birch syrup are made over a wood-fired evaporator.
.  The Wild Center in Tupper Lake has a maple project in full swing and offers tapping tours.
. Winters Harvest Sugar Shack in North Bangor is the ‘home of the Maple Jack BBQ Sauce’ and makes syrup just the way their grandparents did.
. Try the hands-on sugaring demonstration in the sugar bush at Woods Maple Products in Chateagay.
 
Regional and statewide information for the 2016 Maple Weekends is posted online at www.MapleWeekend.com.