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"We're at the mercy of Mother Nature," Kies said of the maple-sugaring season. This year, thanks to cold, frigid temperatures -- sap flows only when the temperature is above freezing -- will most likely be a shortened season.
Normally, seasons last six to eight weeks; Kies expects this one to be about four weeks.
"It's a crop like any other," he said. "Some years are better than others."
And therein lies the lesson that Kies likes to teach to student groups.
What often surprises people: It's made from just one ingredient, sap, which you can tap at home from your own maple trees, he said. Another fun fact: It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
But despite Mother Nature's wrath this winter, there will still be plenty of product at the Maple Sugar Festival on March 7 and 8 at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center. (Go here for more information).
Kies, who is known around the museum as the "Sugarmeister," said he's a New Englander at heart, and that's one reason he loves maple syrup so much. "It's a tradition," he said. "Knowing I'm producing food is a good feeling."
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