Saturday, March 21, Merck Forest & Farmland Center (MFFC) invites the public to Maple Open House. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will have activities for all.

Tour the sugarhouse, watch sap boil down to syrup in real time, and taste the results straight from the evaporator pan. MFFC field educators and staff will be on hand to offer demonstrations and to answer questions about our organic sugaring operation.

Families with young children will enjoy visiting the farm animals, and the center's 35-mile trail network opens the surrounding landscape to exploration before or after a visit to the sugarhouse. Hands-on activities designed for younger visitors run throughout the event, and food will be available for purchase from Crooked Barn Charcuterie and Willoughby's Donuts. The event is free and open to the public, though a donation of $5 per person is appreciated.

For more information, visit merckforest.org.

Merck Forest & Farmland Center is a 3,644-acre working forest and farm in Rupert, Vermont, open to the public year-round thanks to generous community support. Part of a 42,000-acre unfragmented forest block and a critical migratory corridor in the northern Appalachians, the land serves as both a living classroom and a front-line landscape for ecological stewardship. Merck Forest's mission: to inspire curiosity, love, and responsibility for natural and working lands.