Nutrients are taken by the roots from the soil and delivered by the sap to the buds. This is done when the sap is flowing. Sap flows best in the spring when the weather fluctuates, with warm days and freezing nights. In our area, this generally starts in late February/early March and ends in late March/early April when the buds swell. Once the buds swell, the sap no longer has a good taste.

The American Indians taught the first white settlers how to tap maple trees and turn the sweet sap into maple syrup. Removing sap from the tree is not injurious because only about ten percent of the sap is taken. If a healthy tree is tapped properly, new wood will grow over the tap hole within within one to two years and cause no permanent damage.

Firth Maple Products was established in 1971, starting with 1,000 taps. Buckets were used for sap collection. Today there are over 20,000 taps on 800 acres of trees. Buckets have been replaced entirely by plastic tubing, approximately 80 miles of it! with tubing, all the trees on a hillside can be connected into a network of plastic lines which direct the flow of sap downhill to a tank located in the lowest part of the woods. From here the sap is hauled by truck to the sugarhouse.

Sap is approximately 98% water and 2% sugar. Maple syrup is 33.5% water and 66.5% sugar. Converting sap to maple syrup is done by extracting the excess water from the sap. It takes 40-60 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup, depending on the exact sugar content of the sap. Typically one can estimate that each tap hole will product enough sap for one quart of syrup.

The fascinating change of sap to syrup is done within our sugarhouse. Visitors are welcome to view the process during the syrup season. All of our maple products are available year round.

WE SELL BOTH GRADE A TABLE SYRUP AND GRADE B SYRUP FOR BAKING