By Elizabeth Sheeran

Wintry weather left many of us seeking a sweet respite from the seasonal blues last week. And nothing says “spring is just around the corner” in New England like a good old sugaring off. At Somerville’s Community Growing Center last weekend, the evaporator pan was steaming, the sap was boiling, and the syrup was flowing.

The two-day Maple Syrup Boil Down Festival capped off Somerville’s annual Maple Syrup Project, a citywide educational program coordinated by Somerville Public Schools, the Growing Center and Groundwork Somerville. Despite the funky weather this winter, 10 sugar maples on the Tufts University Campus yielded 240 gallons of raw sap, which was slowly but surely transformed over the weekend into around four gallons of pure maple syrup.

Second graders visited the Boil Down on Friday to check in on the sap and test their knowledge of all things maple, and Saturday’s public festival featured plenty of family-friendly maple-themed activities. Six-year-old Sophie O’Sullivan said she learned a lot about maple trees and syrup-making, but the best part was the tasting.

“It’s really good,” she said, dunking a chunk of waffle into a cup of Somerville maple syrup and popping it into her mouth. “It’s awesome.”

– Photos by Elizabeth Sheeran