PHOTOGRAPHY ( THIS PAGE ): GETTY IMAGES / PAVEL KLIMENKO ; ( OPPOSITE PAGE ): COURTESY OF THE LITTLE FREE LIBRARY COMMUNITY .

It takes forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup . Visitors can learn all about the maple-sugaring process at Coggeshall Farm in Bristol , where caretakers will tap up to forty sugar maple and Norway trees sprawled out on the property . The farm welcomes guests to learn about the practice from costumed historians during Maple Sugaring Weekend on March 5 and 6 from 10 a . m . to 4 p . m . The sweet substance ties into East Bay history . “ Maple sugar has obvious connections to historic food , but it also enables us to talk about the environment , land usage , trade and early abolitionist movements ,” says Eleanor Langham , site director of the Coggeshall Farm Museum . She explains that maple sugar can be used in place of cane sugar in any recipe . Abolitionist and founding father Benjamin Rush hoped to produce maple sugar as an alternative to cane sugar , which was farmed and processed into molasses by enslaved people who were trafficked from Africa to the Caribbean . Bristol ’ s rum distilleries turned the molasses into rum , connecting the town to the Triangle Trade . “ His idea did not succeed for many reasons , including notable deforestation in New England at the time ,” Langham says . “ Therefore , here on the coast , we were far more likely to have sugarcane or molasses in our kitchens .” 1 Colt Dr ., Bristol , 253-9062 , coggeshallfarm . org — JAMIE COELHO

16 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l MARCH 2022