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NORTH ATTLEBORO - t's the best maple syrup on the block. And that's not just because it's the only maple syrup on this block, or any other one in the town or maybe even county.

According to Ellen and Dave Cournoyer, it's the real stuff and once you taste it, you'll be hooked.

"We do like it," Ellen Cournoyer, 52, said. "Once you taste the real stuff, you really don't want to go back."

"And we have fun with it," Dave, 52, adds. "We welcome anybody who wants to, to come down and see it."

The "it" is the Cournoyer's sugar house, part of their Davell's Farm, where they will produce nearly 100 gallons of maple syrup this season. (That's more than 14,000 bottles.) It's only their second year with the evaporator that boils the maple sap down to pure syrup, but it's their fourth year in the syrup business and they've loved every laborious second of the job.

The North Attleboro couple, who've been residents for almost 30 years, raised four children on their fulltime teaching jobs with a strong family emphasis on the great outdoors and the ability to sustain themselves.

Farming and gardening are in both their families and the Cournoyers have taken up gardening in their own yard and do their own composting.

"It's in the blood," Ellen said. "As a family, for years we'd go to Lake George and boat out to an island and camp for a week."

Their interest in maple syruping began when they attended a syruping weekend in Uxbridge some years ago and saw the at-home process first hand.

They bought a mini-tap, a starter kit for maple syrupers, and drilled the trees in their yard.

"We made enough for a couple of pancake meals," Ellen said. "We expanded the next year."

Once word got out, their neighbors started offering up their trees, the Cournoyers kept collecting more and more sap, and eventually purchased the equipment that occupies their carport for the four- to six-week syruping season.

It's really a second fulltime job for the couple.

Collecting the sap starts toward the end of February, depending on weather, and continues throughout March, until the end of the season. But to keep the evaporator going requires an unbelievable amount of wood, and the Cournoyers spend a lot of their time chopping down enough stock.

Once the syruping begins, they're pretty much attached to the evaporator. That's because if it is left unattended, the fire could go out, and that would bring down the boil and the syrup would be lost.

"We bring chairs out here, we eat out here," Ellen said. "In the old times, they'd sleep in the sugar houses. You wouldn't see them for a month. It's a real job and it's hard work."

But, the couple said, it's more than worth it.

Aside from running a business together and enjoying the hands-on work, they've been successful. Their maple syrup has been sold at Willow Tree in Attleboro, at Briggs Nursery, and The Blackington Inn is carrying it this year.

They've sold it to fundraising groups and to brides who use it as wedding favors.

"It's rewarding," Ellen said. "We meet a lot of people, and we've got a little bit of travel. As educators, we really want to share with people. This has been a nice way to do it."

REBECCA KEISTER can be reached at 508-236-0336 or at rkeister@thesunchronicle.com.

Here’s how tree sap becomes maple syrup

This is how Ellen and Dave Cournoyer turn maple tree sap, which is almost purely water and contains just 2 to 3 percent sugar, into pure maple syrup:

The Cournoyers collect maple sap and store it in 300-gallon tanks.

The tanks are connected to a pump that feeds the sap into an evaporator that pushes the sap through, making it more dense as it goes down the line.

Meanwhile, the evaporator is heated to 219 degrees Celcius, the temperature at which the boil will evaporate the water from the sap, leaving only the sugar.

To do this, the Cournoyers must continuously keep the evaporator heated by standing by and feeding the fire with chopped wood.

Once the sap is evaporated, it comes out a small pipe at the end of the evaporator, and the Cournoyers can bottle it right there.

— REBECCA KEISTER

Check out the show

Davell’s Family Farm,F0 30 Orchard Drive, North Attleboro, opens its sugarhouse to the public from noon to 5 p.m. weekends throughout March (weather permitting). You can stop in and see the whole process, from boiling to bottling, and even try a free sample. For more information, visit davellsfarm.com.

SOME OTHER F0maple sugaring events this month:

Moose Hill Audubon SanctuaryF0 in Sharon holds its annual Maple Sugaring Festival March 9, 15 and 16, with 90-minute guided walking tours leaving every 15 minutes from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Visit a Native American and colonial site meeting with people portraying characters as they go about their daily chores, including making maple syrup. Check out a functioning sugarhouse and taste of the final product. More sugaring fun after the tour. Event is $7 in advance, $8 day of. Kids under 3 free. Pre-registration recommended. Questions? Call 781-784-5691.

Maple Sugar DaysF0 at Brookwood Farm in the Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday. Features real maple sugaring, educational demonstrations and more. (617-333-0690)

Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park,F0 River Bend Farm, 287 Oak St., Uxbridge, will offer maple sugaring programs this Saturday and Sunday and next Saturday and Sunday starting at 9 a.m. Group tours are available by registration. Watch syrup being made, sample maple products, see trees being tapped, participate in gathering sap, and visit the park’s sugar house. (508-278-5274).