The 44th annual Monadnock Ledger-Transcript maple syrup contest took place Saturday, April 10, at Bantam Grill in Peterborough, with 13 participants submitting 18 total entries to this year’s competition.
Returning judges included food writer Ben Watson, Cornucopia Project founder Kin Schilling and longtime “Victory Garden” host Roger Swain.
Jillian and Jon Miner of Grand Monadnock Maple Farm in Harrisville took first place. Kelly Marcotte of Chadwick Farm in Jaffrey placed second, while Gordon Young of Jaffrey and Mark Fernald of Spring Hill Sugarhouse in Sharon were named runners-up.
Fernald also won the 2026 People’s Choice Award. Runners-up in that category were Great Brook School and Heidi and Kevin Doran of Dublin Lavender.
Jillian Miner said she still feels like a “novice” syrup farmer, having started learning the process in 2012.
“I’m from Connecticut, so I never knew anything about the process. I used to think the sap was like pine pitch, coming out of the tree all sticky,” Miner said. “My husband grew up here and he has been doing this since he was 5 years old, for 33 years.”
The Miners sell their syrup at their sugarhouse and other retail locations, and it is also served at the Peterborough Diner.
Jillian, a nutritionist and assistant town clerk in Harrisville, and Jon, a surveyor, run the maple farm on a seasonal, part-time basis, but she said the couple is “very serious” about farming.
“We have 800 taps on the family property, and 400 on another property. We did just under 400 gallons this year, and we made nice light syrup, which is what we submitted,” Miner said. “Typically, we do 450 gallons.”
Miner said they were pleased to get 400 gallons, as the trees are still recovering from last fall’s severe drought.
“It was a really bad drought. It was really dry. The snow was great, but then when it melted, the snow just ran right off and didn’t soak in the ground, and we really needed it to,” Miner said. “There is nothing we can do about it. That’s farming.”
Miner said she and Jon believe in boiling the sap as quickly as possible for a fresher syrup.
“When we have sap, we boil it as soon as we can; we definitely don’t have it sitting around,” she said.
The Miners use reverse osmosis to concentrate the sap, which “takes the sugar out before the boiling process.”
“That reduces the boiling time and cuts down on the amount of energy we have to use,” Miner said. “On a good day, the sap is 2% sugar. The syrup is 66% sugar; you have to boil out all the water and concentrate it down.”
The couple also use a vacuum system with their tubing, a steam-away hood, and an oil-fired evaporator.
“We try to be as professional as we can be; we’re very serious about it – it’s a food product,” Miner said.
Grand Monadnock Maple Farm is a family operation, with the Miners’ young children learning the business.
“My 4-year-old was arguing with me. I was showing him the sap tank, and he said, ‘It’s just water,’ ” Miner said. “I told him the sap is kind of like the water in the tree, and he said, ‘See – it’s water!’ I wasn’t going to argue with him.”
This is Grand Monadnock Maple Farm’s third time winning first place.
“We’ll see what happens next year,” Miner said. “Every year is different.”