First thing is to ID your maples. Sugar is obviously the best (highest sugar content), but silvers aren't too bad either. I don't have any reds but my local sugarers say those aren't very good. Then buy yourself a few taps. I'm sure you can find them online; I happen to have a supplier nearby, and more importantly I know someone in the business, so he gave me a couple of taps for nothing. Figure out what you want to collect the sap in. I use 1 gallon water jugs. I have 2 taps on one tree (about 18" dia) and when it's running it'll overflow those jugs by the time I get home from work. With my little burner I'll start boiling when I have 4-5 gallons of sap. I'll boil outside until it's down to a half gallon or so, then finish it inside where I can monitor the temp and control the heat. It's a fine line between maple syrup and rock candy, and believe me you'll cross that line more than once. My first batch this year was maple honey.....tasted great and worked best in coffee, not so great for pancakes. My last batch produced about 12 oz of syrup. Kids were dumping sap in all day so I lost track of how many gallons it took, but I'd guess 5-6. The old timers will tell you it's about a 40:1 ratio, but that depends on many things, starting with maple variety.
Since the season is just about over you might as well wait until next year. Living in eastern MA, you'll definitely be able to amaze + delight your flatlander friends with what you can make. And tell them that just like your firewood, it's all organic.
