03-09-24 SP'S Sugar Shack smoke tight

Syrup-sweet smoke puffs out of the top of the SP's Sugar Shack in Center Ossipee on March 9. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

CONWAY — It’s that much-anticipated weekend during New Hampshire Maple Syrup Month when sugar houses open their doors and put on a sweet smorgasbord of maple treats while explaining how the whole syrup shebang comes about.

Many maple producers note it’s been an early start to the drip-by-drip “symphony sap season of the woods,” thanks to the warm winter.

03-09-24 100 Acre Woods loading fire

A.O. Lucy loads the evaporator stove with wood at the Believe in Books 100 Acre Wood Sugar Shack in Intervale on March 9. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-07-24 Brooks Sugar House outside

Scott Brooks stands outside his family's Brooks Family Sugar House in Freedom on March 7. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-13-24 Black Mtn Sugarhouse pose inside

Andy Grigel (left) and Ken Crowther stand together inside the Black Mountain Sugarhouse in Jackson on March 13. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-11-24 Eldridge kids and grandparents

Terri and Scott Eldridge (center back) stand with their grandkids (from left) Bodie and Adalynn Eldridge (almost 1 and 10) and Rylee and Greyson Theriault (8 and 3) by the evaporator at the Eldridge Family Sugar House in Tamworth on March 11. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-10-24 Mac Hill family pose horizontal

The Streeter family (from left: Allison, 11, Jesse, 17, Anne-Marie, Will and dog Tug) stand outside their Mac Hill Maple sugarhouse in Tamworth on March 10. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-10-24 Mooney Hill rob and ciaran

Mooney Hill Maple owners Rob and Ciaran Hatch stand by the Silver Lake sugarhouse on March 10. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

muddy boots family outside

The Peters family stands outside their Muddy Boots Maple sugarhouse in Berlin. (COURTESY PHOTO)

03-13-24 Nate and Kates family inside

Nate and Kate Hutchins and their children Savannah, 8, and Abel, 6, stand together at Nate and Kate's Maple in Chatham on March 13. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-09-24 SP'S Sugar Shack sean and julie wide

Sugar shack owners Sean and Julie McManus stand together outside SP's Sugar Shack in Center Ossipee on March 9. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-08-24 Bartlett Rec carrying wood

Bartlett Recreation Department Director Annette Libby carries firewood donated by Emerald Tree Service closer to the evaporator at Stoney's Sugarhouse behind the Josiah Bartlett Elementary School in Bartlett on March 8. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-10-24 Turkey St fixing bucket

Kate Stanley of Turkey Street Maples slides the lid back on a sap bucket at her and husband Tim Robinson's Chocorua home on March 10. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

03-12-24 Young Maple Ridge outside wide

Young Maple Ridge Sugarhouse owner Brad Streeter stands outside the Center Sandwich sugarhouse on March 12. (RACHEL SHARPLES PHOTO)

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