The sap is flowing and hopes are high for a large yield of maple syrup as Groundwork Somerville prepares for its annual Boil Down event on March 12.

By Haley ED Houseman

On Saturday, March 12, Groundwork Somerville will hold a community day to share their annual Maple Syrup Boil Down Festival, turning maple sap into syrup. Running from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., volunteers will use a large metal boiler made 10 years ago by local high school students in their shop. The event will also feature the goodies associated with maple syrup, including pancakes, and also some fresh delicacies like sap tea.

There are big hopes for this year’s maple tapping. Last year, with a long winter season and deep late-falling snow, it was too cold for the sap to flow as usual. To keep the sap flowing, temperatures must be above freezing during the day, and below freezing at night. This year, taps were dripping as soon as they were made at earlier this month. Groundwork has collected more than 20 gallons of sap already, and the taps will stay in for about three to four weeks, until the Boil Down.

The annual Maple Syrup Boil Down Festival will be taking place at the Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave. in Somerville on March 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sarah Lindsay, the event’s organizer for the past two years, says that last year the turnout was around 150 people, quite low for the event. But this year, with cooperative weather, she hopes to see between 200-300 visitors over the course of the day. The event will be held at the Growing Center at 22 Vinal Ave. in Somerville. The program has been running for 12 years, first as a small-scale tapping of trees on the Tufts Campus, now a beloved citywide tradition.

The whole program is designed to put volunteers in touch with the process. And its a unique, old school approach at that. Lindsay explains, “To tap, we use a brace and bit (an old-school hand powered drill), supplemented with modern power drills when needed, to drill holes 2 inches into our trees. Once the holes are drilled, we tap in spiles with hammers, hang our aluminum buckets from the spiles, and wait for delicious sap to drip in and fill them up!” After a month or so of collecting, the sap is boiled in a massive boiler until golden, then finished on stovetop pots. The product is the definition of local food.

The syrup is sold through Groundwork Somerville at various market stands in the Union Square Farmers’ Market, the Clarendon Hill Winter Market, and Sherman Market. Leading up to the Boil Down event is a four week arts and science educational program with local second grade students, which includes a field trip to the Growing Center on March 11 to participate in a smaller scale version of the Community Day.

If you can’t make it to the Community Day but still want to support its programming, there’s plenty of sweetness to go around. The Independent, 75 Union Square will host its annual Maple Brunch on Presidents Day, Monday Feb 15. There will be a special menu of maple themed dishes from 11 a.m. -2 p.m., with a portion of the profits to go the Groundwork Somerville’s Maple Syrup Project. Come for the maple sausage, fresh pancakes, or to sample a maple sap cocktail on the holiday.