Harrison Thorp 9:46 a.m.
Thursday, March 19, 2026 9:48 am

Clockwise from left, Alex Morin's nephew, Bennett has some fun putting on the big boy gloves in the sugar house, Alex Morin tending to piping during the offseason and the boiler where the sap turns to sweetness (Courtesy photos/Alex Morin)

FARMINGTON - It comes around just once a year, which makes it all the more sweeter, for those who enjoy it and those who produce it.
NH Maple Weekend will be held on Saturday and Sunday with scores of maple syrup producers across the state taking part in the annual celebration of turning sap into deliciousness.
"It's a special time," said Alex Morin, who runs a sugar shack on Oak and Briar Farm at 1271 Ten Rod Road in Farmington. "You look forward to seeing friends and family and it's just nice hanging out in the shack."
Morin began his sugaring operation about eight years ago and has grown it into some 250 trees, including about 100 on Farmington conservation land formerly owned by noted sugarer Bob Leary and now maintained by Moose Mountain Regional Greenways.
Morin said his place isn't far from the Leary Field and Forest and he spends much of his time in the summer thinning out woods and retooling sugaring lines that connect the trees' sap to his sugarhouse.
"I'm an outdoor kind of guy and like working up there in the summer, too," he said.
He said he probably has some two and a half miles of working pipeline this year, and will be sugaring full throttle come Saturday morning.
"We'll be going strong all day and expect to see about 300 people over Saturday and Sunday," he said.
To view a map of maple syrup producers throughout the Greater Rochester region and all of New Hampshire click here.