Somerville, Mass. – Last Saturday, volunteers joined staff members of the Somerville Growing Center for the 27th Maple Boil Down of its Somerville Maple Syrup project. Sap tapped from maple trees at Tufts University was boiled down into “pre-syrup” over the course of a few hours. A second boil at a local culinary facility is required to produce maple syrup.
According to the project website, the boil-down tradition began in March 2000 with the tapping of maple trees at the Growing Center. The next year trees at Tufts were tapped for the first time.
Check out more photos below, taken well after the crowds from the main public event earlier in the day had departed—leaving a few stalwarts to finish up.
A volunteer shrouded in steam at the 27th Maple Boil Down. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2026 Jason Pramas.
Julia Halm of the Somerville Growing Center and a volunteer at the 27th Maple Boil Down. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2026 Jason Pramas.
The view across Nunziato Park to the conclusion of the 27th Maple Boil Down. Photo by Jason Pramas. Copyright 2026 Jason Pramas.
This article was produced for BINJ.News, the independent weekly magazine published by the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and is syndicated by BINJ’s MassWire news service.
