The first farm that I visited on the Official Maple Saturday, March 25th, 2017, Mapletree Farm, quickly became one of my favorites, .
Dean and Meg Wilbur purchased the land here in 1973 with the intention of continuing the sugaring Dean had been doing since he was seven years old. They began tapping in 1975 and converted the apple grove to a maple grove in 1981 by planting 200 extra-sweet maple “whips” purchased from the Vermont Forestry Research Lab in Vermont. This continues to be the only planted maple tree farm in New Hampshire and Concord’s oldest and only 
continuously operating sugarhouse.
An educator and learner, Dean is constantly working to better his craft. Today he has about 20 buckets and over 1000 taps on tubing. He has a 2.5’x 10′ super-efficient wood-fired evaporator. He named his Reverse Osmosis machine “Ralph” and jokes that Ralph is his
hardest worker. He stated that, before RO, 1 cord 
of wood would make about 25 gallons of syrup. Now, with Ralph’s help, he can make 100 gallons with that same cord of wood. He stressed the importance of cleanliness in the sugar shack – he had been a food inspector and is eager to help other maple farmers to meet the qualifications for the NH Department of Agriculture’s Seal of Quality Program. They believe that “clean tubing makes for a superior flavor in syrup”.
Mapletree is beginning to switch over to 3/8″ line and hopes to have a new evaporator and more educator-friendly saphouse (including public restrooms) in the next few years.
p.s. I was very sad to learn of the death of Meg Wilbur in September, 2017. She was a beautiful lady, inside and out, who will be greatly missed.
HodgePodge Maple 