BRIDGEWATER, Maine — When the Bradburys began producing their own maple syrup near their home in Bridgewater, they hung a few buckets from trees and, without access to electricity on the wooded property, came through the season with 17 gallons of maple syrup.
These days the Bradburys are owners of around 80 acres of property on their Bootfoot Road location and typically produce 1,200 gallons of maple syrup from over 4,000 trees. With the help of three generations, the family is expecting another successful maple syrup season and excited to welcome community members to Bradbury Maple Farms this weekend for Maine Maple Weekend festivities.
Through an intricate tapping, or “vacuum,” system the Bradbury family gathers sap from maple trees each March to begin producing an average of 1,200 gallons of maple syrup. The Bradburys will welcome the public to their Maine Maple Weekend open houses on March 23 and 24. (Melissa Lizotte)
Other maple producers and sugarhouses from across The County that will host visitors on Saturday and/or Sunday, March 23 and 24, according to the Maine Maple Producers Association, are:
— Eagle Lake: Northwoods Nectar, 1426 Sly Brook Rd., 11 a.m.-4 p.m. March 23 and 24.
— Easton: The Maple Moose, 28 Bowers Rd., open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. March 23-April 14.
— Reed Plantation: Sunny Crest Maple Farm, 334 Main St., 1-5 p.m. March 24.
— Smyrna: Spring Break Maple & Honey, 3315 U.S. Rt. 2, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. March 23 and 24.
The Bradburys will host open houses from 1 to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. They also will remain open during those times every weekend until the maple season ends in mid-April. For owners Charlotte and Boyd Bradbury, Maine Maple Weekend is a fun way to catch up with people and spread the joy of pure maple syrup tastings to generations young and old.
“Over the past 30 years we’ve seen a lot of families come back with children and grandchildren. For us, it’s also a time of year when our whole family gets together,” Charlotte Bradbury said.
When the Bradburys began their maple syrup production as a small hobby, their own children were young. Now their grandson Clark Bradbury has taken a special interest in helping out, with hopes of eventually taking over the business. He recently returned to Bridgewater during his school break from the University of Maine, where he is studying electrical and mechanical engineering technology, to assist with this weekend’s activities.
As he was growing up, Clark Bradbury would watch his father and grandfather working on maple production and, over time, he picked up the knowledge and expertise himself. He explained that all trees are hooked up to what they call a vacuum system that brings the sap from the trees into a reverse osmosis machine.
Reverse osmosis is a process that eliminates 75 percent of the water from the maple sap before the sap is boiled. From there the sap is transported to an evaporator machine and boiled at a temperature of 219 degrees Fahrenheit. The last step involves drawing the syrup into a finishing pan and filtering any excess debris from the syrup.
“It can take around 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. On a good day, we can produce around 20 to 25 gallons per hour,” Clark Bradbury said. “It’s all pure maple syrup because we don’t add extra sugar before boiling. It’s just natural product straight from the trees.”
He noted that the maple season usually lasts from mid-March to mid-April and that the date of the first syrup production often depends on weather patterns. Ideal temperatures are 40 degrees or higher in daylight and in the 20s during evening hours, a trend that has persisted this March so far. The family expects to produce their first gallons of maple syrup later this week, just in time for Maine Maple Weekend.
During the open houses, the Bradburys will lead tours of their maple syrup production buildings and property to give folks a first-hand glimpse into how the process works. They also will showcase and sell various products such as maple cream, jelly, sugar candies, taffy and maple popcorn.
Folks will be able to sample taffy-on-a-stick — a treat made by cooking maple syrup at 220 to 240 degrees and spreading it on a tray of snow. Once the syrup hardens, people can then turn a popsicle stick around the syrup, creating a sticky, sugary treat.
“People love taffy-on-a-stick and our maple popcorn is also very popular,” Charlotte Bradbury said.
The Bradburys’ operation has come a long way since their early days of maple syrup production. Back in 1984, the family found the original evaporating machine that Clark Bradbury’s great-great-grandfather operated in the 1930s.
“My grandfather, uncle and father put everything together,” that summer and took up the maple syrup business again, he said.
Over the years, the family has switched from buckets to their current vacuum system and replaced a wood evaporator with an oil evaporator, which Clark said helped cut down on human labor and made the boiling process more efficient. They added the reverse osmosis machine in the early 2000s. Today they ship their maple products across the country and world, even as far as Alaska and Germany.
Though they still consider maple syrup production a “hobby,” Charlotte and Boyd Bradbury have devoted more time to the business since retiring, with the younger generations pitching in when work and school schedules allow. Now they’re glad to share yet another great season with people in the community.
“I think by the time Maple Weekend comes, people are glad to get out after a long winter and have their first taste of this year’s maple syrup,” Charlotte Bradbury said.
Bradbury Maple Farms is located at 202 Bootfoot Road in Bridgewater. For more information about weekend activities, visit the Maine Maple Producers Association website, https://mainemapleproducers.com/maine-maple-sunday, or contact the Bradburys at (207) 429-8306.
