Gear guide · 8 products

Books for maple sugaring

UMaine 7036 names Rink Mann's 'Backyard Sugarin'' as 'An excellent how-to book for the hobby and small-scale producer' and cites the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual (3rd ed., 2022).

Our pick

Top pick: Backyard Sugarin' ($13.00 Bascom / $14.97 Amazon) - the one hobby title an extension bulletin recommends by name; NAMSPM 3rd ed. ($60) for the small sugarhouse tier
Budget pick: Free PDFs: Cornell Beginner's Notebook and NAMSPM 2nd ed.; Only extension endorsement and price are verifiable; no book was read for content by this project.; What would change it: Nothing short of reading the books.

Disclosure

Gear pages contain affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nobody on this site has tested these products; recommendations rest on manufacturer specifications, extension-service guidance, price and availability on the dates shown.

What matters

How to judge books

Each criterion names the extension or manual source it comes from; 'synthesis' marks our own reasoning.

1
UMaine 7036 names Rink Mann's 'Backyard Sugarin'' as 'An excellent how-to book for the hobby and small-scale producer' and cites the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual (3rd ed., 2022).
UMAINE-7036 · verified
2
The Cornell Beginner's Notebook and NAMSPM 2nd ed. are free PDFs (links in sources).
CORNELL-NB; NAMSPM2 · verified

Products

8 books we looked at

Specs are from the maker's or dealer's page; 'unknown' means it wasn't stated. Prices are the dealer's on the date shown; Amazon prices aren't shown here because Amazon's rules require live data.

Tap My Trees

Maple Sugaring at Home (booklet)

$7.95at tapmytrees.com, 2026-10-05

Suits: First season

View at tapmytrees.com →

Verified on the page: name, price

Storey Publishing

How To Make Maple Syrup (Storey Basics, Alison and Steven Anderson)

⚠ Amazon $9.99 (ISBN 1612121713)

$9.95at bascommaple.com, 2026-10-05

Suits: First season

View at bascommaple.com →

Verified on the page: name, price

Storey Publishing

Maple Sugar: From Sap to Syrup (Tim Herd)

⚠ Listing snapshot

Price on Amazon

Suits: First season

View at amazon.com →

Verified on the page: name, price

Maple Tapper

Guide to Maple Tapping (80 pp)

pages:: 80

⚠ Amazon $10.95

$12.99at mapletapper.com, 2026-10-05

Suits: First season

View at mapletapper.com →

Verified on the page: name, price, pages

Countryman Press

Backyard Sugarin': A Complete How-To Guide (4th ed., Rink Mann; foreword by Michael Farrell)

edition:: 4th

⚠ Amazon showed $14.97 (ISBN 1581573405) on 2026-10-05

$13at bascommaple.com, 2026-10-05

Suits: First season, Serious backyard

View at bascommaple.com →

Verified on the page: name, price

Lyons Press

Sweet Maple: Backyard Sugarmaking from Tap to Table (Michelle Visser)

⚠ Listing snapshot

Price on Amazon

Suits: First season, Serious backyard

View at amazon.com →

Verified on the page: name, price

North American Maple Syrup Council

North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, 3rd ed. (soft cover, spiral; 400+ pages)

edition:: 3rd (2022)
pages:: 400+

$60at bascommaple.com, 2026-10-05

Suits: Serious backyard, Small sugarhouse

View at bascommaple.com →

Verified on the page: name, price, edition

Chelsea Green

The Sugarmaker's Companion (Michael Farrell)

⚠ Publisher page 403 to curl; price unknown this session

Price not read

Suits: Serious backyard, Small sugarhouse

View at chelseagreen.com →

Verified on the page: name

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LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Log every run. Know your season.

LuckySap is the maple syrup tracker for iPhone and Android: a sap-flow outlook for your trees, a quick log for every collection and boil, and season stats you can compare year to year.