Yesterday we walked the property line - almost two miles - and found that along one edge there are at least forty mature sugar maples. Some of these are great grandaddy maples - at least a dozen. Others are medium-sized, and a few are small/young maples.
The great grandaddies and medium-sized trees will take 2-3 taps each, and the small ones one tap, for maple syrup.
Each tap yields at least a gallon of syrup. Each gallon of syrup sells for $35, more if you sell by the pint or quart.
We are planning to start small this spring, and tap the trees by hand, find used evaporator equipment cheaply, and use wood to fire the evaporator. We are thinking "hobby" - but if we like it (and I'm sure we will!), we will use the proceeds from the first year to buy more serious equipment. Full production of our little sugarbush should be at least a hundred gallons per season - figure three grand or so supplement to our income for a month of intensive but fun work.
The other asset we found was wood. Lots of selective clearing that needs to happen, lots of standing dead wood that is maple or birch. Probably four to six cords' worth. Luckily our little Toyota pickup can get back there to pick it up. That's a winter's worth of wood! We are probably still going to buy four cords but as Matt can fell and chop the trees, we'll supplement that and have a good store going for next year.
Needless to say we were very excited! Even if we don't do "production" maple sugaring, it will be great fun to make our own syrup this spring. I am just sad thinking of all the maples that were cut when the land was cleared about eight years ago.
It must have been quite a beautiful grove, but at least one line of it is left.
Julie 
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