N.H. Maple Experience returns this summer, Springtime happenings at The Rocks

How sweet it was! Thanks to all of you who visited The Rocks during the 2014 New Hampshire Maple Experience. We hope you all had as much fun as we did learning about maple sugaring and exploring the farm.

If you missed the season – or just can’t wait until next year to return – don’t fret! Our self-guided New Hampshire Maple Experience returns to The Rocks July 1. The self-guided tour includes a walk along the Maple Trail and a visit to the sugarhouse and Maple Museum.

The Maple Trail begins at the main parking area of The Rocks and meanders along a grassy path through the forest, beside stone walls, and into the sugar orchard. Signs along the trail explain maple sugaring, from the earliest sugar makers and modern techniques to the tools of the trade and how to identify a sugar maple tree. 

The Maple Trail leads visitors to the sawmill/pigpen building, constructed in 1906 and artfully restored to serve as The Rocks’ sugarhouse and interactive Maple Museum, where visitors will learn more about the history and process of making maple sugar. (Read more about the intriguing history of The Rocks Estate here.) An arch between the sugarhouse and museum provides a stunning view of the Presidential Mountains.

There’s always something happening at The Rocks, and visitors are welcome in all seasons. Our trails are open daily, year-round. You’ll find more information about the trails here. We also host natural history discussions throughout the year, on a variety of topics. To see what’s happening, please check out our online calendar. 

We hope to see you soon at The Rocks Estate!

For Bruce Streeter and his horses, wagon rides at the NH Maple Experience are all in a day’s work

Teamster Bruce Streeter and his horses have been pulling wagon loads of visitors around The Rocks Estate for the past 16 years. Bruce hauls his team north from Orford, New Hampshire, to pull the wagons during the busy Christmas tree season, the New Hampshire Maple Experience, and an occasional bus tour. 

Whatever the season, the huge draft horses are always a big draw for visitors to The Rocks. While our volunteers talk with visitors about the history and process of maple sugaring, Bruce's horses get plenty of pats on the nose. Bruce does his own sugaring on his farm in Orford, but most of the questions he fields at The Rocks are about his nearly-one-ton companions. Below, he shares some information about his horses and his work at The Rocks. 

Tell us about your horses.

They’re Belgian draft horses. Their names are Mike and Burt. I have another one, Bob, who I can use if I need to. Draft horse names aren’t typically very fancy. I like to keep ‘em short so they can understand it when I speak to them. They’re about 1850 pounds apiece. They’ll eat about 40 pounds of hay a day and about 10 pounds of grain each.

How did you get involved with working with draft horses?

I’ve been working with horses about 35 years. My dad logged with horses his whole life and I grew up with them. We log with them and sugar with them and do some of the farm work. We have the horses and a couple beef cows – and 2 to 10 kids, depending on how many neighbors are here.

What do you do, besides driving your team, when you’re at The Rocks for wagon rides?

They have a tour guide on every wagon, so most of the questions I answer are about the horses. I enjoy it. It’s a good time to get out and use your horses and talk to people about what draft horses can or can’t do. The programs at The Rocks have grown tremendously in the last 15 or 16 years. They’ve expanded to mail order trees. The maple program has become bigger.

What do you – and Mike and Burt – do when you’re not pulling wagons at The Rocks?

I have a full time logging business and use both horses and conventional logging equipment. Having both options is more versatile. I do get some landowners who request having horses instead of a machine, because it’s a much lower impact. It’s not as profitable. It takes longer to skid the wood out.

We also do sleigh rides during the winter at the ski area at Quechee Lakes in Vermont and do a lot of logging in the winter.

The horses are much better behaved when they’re working. I think they like to be active. Burt is 9 years old and Mike is 5. Draft horse will work until they’re about 20 years old, if they’re well taken care of and don’t get sick or get injured.

To learn more about Bruce and his horses and discover the sweet secrets of sugaring season, visit The Rocks for the New Hampshire Maple Experience, running weekends through April 5. For more information, visit the Maple Experience website. To make a reservation for a maple tour, call The Rocks at (603) 444-6228.

Rocks Estate volunteer Sam Chase: Sharing sugaring secrets and history for 19 years

Hands-on maple learning with a Rocks Estate volunteer.

During any trip to The Rocks Estate – whether to find a perfect Christmas tree in December, discover the secrets of maple sugaring in March, or simply walk along the trails in any season – visitors are bound to learn something new. And if you visit during one of our programs, like the New Hampshire Maple Experience, our dedicated corps of volunteers will be there to guide your discovery.

One of our volunteers is Sam Chase, of Whitefield, NH. Sam discovered The Rocks in his retirement, and for the past 19 years he’s been sharing his knowledge about the history and process of maple sugaring, along with tidbits about the intriguing history of The Rocks Estate, and the Glessner family who built the Estate back in the late 1800s.

What keeps a volunteer coming back each season for nearly two decades? Read on to find out, in Sam’s words.

How did you get started as a volunteer at The Rocks?

I’ve been a guide at The Rocks since about 1994. During Christmas tree season, I’m a guide on the wagons. For the Maple Experience, I do the inside presentation on the history of maple sugaring.

There was a course offered at The Rocks back then, a general science course offered by The Rocks and Fish & Game. I’d retired and didn’t have much to do, and I was interested in the outdoors. If you agreed to volunteer for so many programs, they didn’t charge for the course. I’ve been volunteering ever since with The Rocks, and also with Fish & Game to do a series of programs they have aimed at 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th graders in the area.

What has inspired you to keep coming back to The Rocks year after year?

I think The Rocks is just a great place to begin with. The whole setting is a lot of fun – the volunteers that work there, and Nigel (Manley, who manages the Estate). I guess that’s a big a part of going back.

One fun part about being involved as a volunteer is being able to tell people about the history of The Rocks. I think the whole thing and the way it got started in the late 1800s by the Glessner family and how it’s still going today is just really interesting.

I went to Chicago a few years back, and we saw Glessner’s place there and could tie it into here. His house is still there, on Prairie Avenue, which used to be “Millionaires’ Row.” They saved a lot of the furnishings and they had mapped it all and so could put it back the way it was when the Glessners lived there.

(To learn more about the history of The Rocks and the Glessner family, check out the history page of our website.)

Do you see return visitors at the Maple Experience each season?

Yes, and during the winter, too. I have people who have been coming back for 10 or 15 years, lots of family groups. We go through and test them to see how much they remember from their last visit.

What do you do when you’re not sharing stories and information with visitors at The Rocks?

I worked for a gas and electric company headquartered out in Syracuse, New York. My great grandfather left Whitefield with his two brothers and headed west in 1860 and got as far as Syracuse. My family kept a place up here – the family still owns the farm. It was divided up amongst the family. So, we came up here summers and in the late 1980s built a house here. When I retired, we decided to move here.

We have a lot of land, which I manage. I work in the garden, play with our two golden retrievers, do income taxes during the winter for the AARP program, and I’m on the board at Weeks State Park.

The crew of Rocks volunteers - Sam is the tall guy in the back.

To enjoy the hands-on New Hampshire Maple Experience and learn a bit about sugaring and The Rocks from our corps of volunteers, come for a visit this spring! The Maple Experience runs weekends through April 5^th. For more information, please visit the New Hampshire Maple Experience website. 

Sugar maker Brad Presby educates and entertains at The Rocks Estate’s New Hampshire Maple Experience

The New Hampshire Maple Experience opens at The Rocks Estate this weekend, but for our resident sugar maker, the work – and joy – of making maple syrup is a year-round process. 

Sugar maker Brad Presby at work.

Brad Presby has been making maple syrup since before he can remember. He learned the tricks of the trade from his grandfather, Lester Presby, as a young boy, and he’s been hooked ever since.Brad manages some 1,200 taps and many miles of sap line at The Rocks Estate. 

Visitors to the Maple Experience will see this fourth-generation sugar maker in action – and be entertained by his funny and informative maple tales – at the Estate’s own sugar house.

Below, Brad shares a little about what he does at The Rocks during sugaring season and beyond.

What do you do at The Rocks during the Maple Experience?

Well, my wife calls me an ‘edutainer.’ I talk to people about sugaring in general, and specifically about the work done in the sugar house, where the sap is transformed into syrup. I talk about the process and the different grades of maple syrup. And I like to tell stories from my many years of sugaring. I’ve been at The Rocks since 1986 or ’87, when they started doing some small maple programs. Now I’m there weekends for the Maple Experience and really enjoy it.

How did you learn about sugaring?

My grandfather had a small dairy farm in Bath, New Hampshire, and was well known in the area. His old sugarhouse is still down there. He used to have 600-800 buckets, and he was one of the first ones around to use [plastic] tubing. We used to drive through the woods in a tractor to collect the sap, so I have a lot of experience in how to bury a tractor in the mud! Sugaring time is when the mud’s out.

Jo and Brad Presby work on the main sap line at The Rocks.

What’s made you stick with sugaring for so long, and how does that tie into your work at The Rocks?

I just like talking sugaring. I could go on all day about sugaring. It’s something that gets into your blood. It’s almost like an addiction, where every year I think, "How many more gallons of syrup can I make? How much more can I handle?"

When does the work for sugaring season begin?

You never really stop. In November and December, we check to make sure the sap lines haven’t been knocked down. Moose will walk right through an orchard and knock the lines down. Bear will chew on them. Coyotes will pull them down. Last year in May we had a snow storm that knocked the tubing down. So in the fall, we push the lines up so they don’t get buried when it starts to snow. 

In winter, before the sap starts to flow, we pull the lines down and check them to make sure there aren’t bites in them from squirrels or other critters. Sometime in February we start tapping the trees. You have to keep an eye on the weather. We like it to be fairly warm to tap the trees. If it’s too cold, you can split the tree. 

(See Brad and his wife, Jo Presby, at work in this video.) 

After we’re done sugaring, we go out and pull the taps, which allows the trees to heal quicker. And we check the lines again, feeling for cuts. Then we push the lines up high so the deer and moose can’t get to it as easily.

Sugaring has changed. You’re constantly monitoring what you’ve got, making more plans. There is no end of the season. It’s a constant thing. 

What do you do when you’re not sugaring – or thinking about sugaring?

Well, I’m retired. I used to work for the State of New Hampshire, Department of Resources and Economic Development. Now I manage the property and logging operations for my family. I’m kind of a woodsy guy. I have a portable sawmill. We always have projects going on. We never stop working on projects. 

To hear more of Brad’s maple sugaring stories and learn about the process of making maple syrup, come visit us at the New Hampshire Maple Experience. The Maple Experience runs March 15, 22-23, 29-30, and April 5. Find more information at NHMapleExperience.com or call (603) 444-6228 to make a reservation for the 2014 Maple Experience.

Create a self-guided Maple Experience this summer

Spring wildflowers

If you missed the New Hampshire Maple Experience earlier this spring, don’t fret! You can create your own self-guided Maple Experience this summer at The Rocks Estate. A walk on our Maple Trail leads you along old stone walls, through our sugar orchard, and to the sugarhouse and Maple Museum. Along the way you’ll spot wildflowers, birds, and mountain vistas.

The sugarhouse and museum reopen June 1 (the same day as our 33^rd Annual Wildflower Festival), but the trails at The Rocks are open year-round, every day, from dawn to dusk.

The Maple Trail begins at the parking area, where you’ll head up the grassy path to the right of Fanny’s Playhouse and turn left into the woods. The wide trail leads visitors through the forest and past the site of the Glessner Family’s “Big House.” John Jacob and Frances Glessner created The Rocks in the late 1800s, and their family spent summers here for many years. While the 19-room mansion designed by Isaac Elwood Scott no longer stands, the Maple Trail passes by the bee house, where Frances kept bees for a time. (Read more about the fascinating history of The Rocks here.) 

Beyond the bee house the Maple Trail turns left through a break in the stone wall and meanders down through the sugar orchard. Look for the blue and black sap lines running through the trees. Interpretive signs along the trail explain the process of maple sugaring, a springtime ritual at The Rocks and throughout New England for many generations. You’ll learn why sap flows in sugar maple trees during the warming days of early spring, how to identify a sugar maple from other trees in the forest, and some of the history of sugaring. 

The trail ends at the former sawmill/pigpen building, constructed in 1906 and carefully restored for use as The Rocks’ sugarhouse and Maple Museum. (Take a look inside the Museum with our online panoramic view.) In the sugarhouse, you’ll see some of the equipment used to boil sap into maple syrup and sugar and view a video of the sugaring process. The interactive museum features both modern and historic sugaring equipment. Both open June 1. The magnificent view from the building is of Mt. Washington and the Presidential Range.

To return to the parking lot, head up the road (to the left, as you’re looking at the mountains) a bit and follow the signs back into the woods. The trail winds up the hill and back to Fanny’s Playhouse, where you’ll find maps and information about some of the other trails at The Rocks.

A walk along the Maple Trail takes 15 minutes to an hour, depending on how long you spend taking in the scenery, reading the signs, and enjoying your time in this beautiful place. Leashed pets are always welcome at The Rocks.

Cooking with maple: It’s not just for pancakes!

Creating a maple delight.

We all know maple syrup is perfect poured over steaming pancakes at the breakfast table. But did you know maple syrup and maple sugar have been used for hundreds of years to sweeten everything from pancakes and breads to coffee and baked beans?

In fact, maple sugar was an important cooking staple for the first European settlers to New England and other northern regions of the United States. The settlers learned how to make maple syrup and sugar from the Native Americans, who had been doing their own form of sugaring for generations before the Europeans arrived.

The history of maple sugaring is shared during the New Hampshire Maple Experience…. AND local chefs reveal their secrets for getting creative with maple in modern day cooking, too! Each day of the Maple Experience, a chef will share cooking secrets and samples during live cooking demonstrations at The Rocks Estate. 

The chefs often invite guests to join in the cooking during the demos. Of course, samples of the finished product are also shared! In the past, our guest chefs have whipped up culinary delights like Whipped Maple Mascarpone and Maple-glazed Scallops with Maple Dijon Beurre Blanc. This season, we’re expecting Maple Teriyaki Marinade, Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette, and a Maple Crème Brûlée. Mmmm…!

You’ll find recipes from our guest chefs at the New Hampshire Maple Experience website. Long live maple, and Bon Appetit!

Maple sugaring step two: tree tapping

If you read our Maple Blog last week, you know how to complete the first step of making maple syrup: identifying a sugar maple from other species. So, now what?

Tapping a tree at the NH Maple Experience.

To get that sweet sap out of the tree, you need to “tap” the tree. That means drilling a hole through the bark to get to the sap. Timing and technique are key when tapping trees. You want to be sure to tap when the sap is flowing in the tree – when the nights are still cold, but daytime temps rise above freezing.

Here are some notes from Rocks Estate manager Nigel Manley about proper technique for tapping sugar maple trees to collect sap:

The first year I sugared I made a couple of novice mistakes, including failing to notice the snow depth when I went out to tap the trees. The snow that year was really deep and I was using a brace and bit to drill the holes. The easiest way to use the tool is to lean against it while drilling. This I did and got 120 buckets hung on the trees. Then the weather turned nice and the sap ran through the trees.

The warmer weather also melted the deep snow. Within 2 weeks of tapping, the snow level had dropped at least 2 feet. This meant that the buckets I’d placed earlier, now brimming with heavy sap, were well above my head. In removing the buckets to collect the sap, I took a bath in cold sap more than once. The locals had a good laugh at the British greenhorn trying his best to make syrup.

Lesson learned: in snowy years, tap trees at snow level, as it makes the gathering so much easier.

Most guests to our New Hampshire Maple Experience programs ask if taking sap out of the trees hurts them. The short answer is NO. If trees are tapped responsibly, removing the sap does not harm the trees. (As a general rule a tree should be at least 10 inches in diameter before it’s tapped. Trees between 20 and 25 inches can support two taps. Trees over 25 inches in diameter can handle a maximum of three taps. You should also be sure not to tap a tree too close to tap holes from previous years – at least two feet directly above or below old holes or at least six inches to the side.)

When a tree is tapped, the tree actually walls off the hole so that bacteria cannot get in. After the hole is walled off, sap will also not flow out of the hole. That’s why it’s crucial to time tapping just right. If a sugar maker taps too early, the hole may "dry out" before the sap has much chance to run. Too late, and you’ll miss the first sap runs of the season.

Many modern sugar makers now use plastic tubing, rather than metal buckets, to collect the sap. The tubing provides a bit more leeway in the timing of tapping, as bacteria has a hard time getting into this system and the tap holes don't dry out as quickly.

To see a demonstration of tree tapping, check out our video of the process, filmed at The Rocks Estate.