Experiencing Vermont Maple Sugaring

When I first moved to Vermont my understanding of the mysteries of maple was on par with that of most people: maple syrup was a delicious sweet to be put on pancakes or waffles, and although expensive, worth every penny.  I knew that it came from the boiled sap of a maple tree, but how and when that sap was collected and boiled, and what was the real difference between all those "grades" remained some of the great unknowns.  I was determined to learn more about sugaring and, if possible, do some on my own.  I went so far as to check the availability of sugar maple trees for sale from one of the nursery catalogues, figuring I could plant a couple of whips that I would be able to tap when I turned 90.  Fortunately they were out of stock.  One day during that first summer, I was in my woods cutting firewood.  I took a look at a spindly maple tree, carefully examining the leaf.  Yes - it was a sugar maple.  Looking up, it did not take me very long to figure out

that I was standing in a sea of sugar maples, some of which were more than 3 feet in diameter.  It was one of those great duh! moments.

During that same summer, I took part in a community chicken slaughter at Fat Toad Farm, where Steve Reid introduced me to Stuart and Margaret Osha (both later became founding members of our Floating Bridge Food & Farms Cooperative), the owners of nearby Turkey Hill Farm.  I had heard that Stuart did sugaring, and asked him if I could come and watch, and if possible lend a hand during the sugaring season (whenever that was).  He was very amenable to this, and I was thrilled.  When I told him I wanted to tap 50 of my own trees, he was very supportive and gracious enough not to tell me that I was crazy.

I bought the book Backyard Sugarin' along with some taps and a small collection tank.  I had no buckets, so I started saving empty plastic milk jugs.  In February, Marda and I started beating down the path in our woods so we could get to our trees, and devised a method for getting the sap down our steep hill.  When the flow started we headed over to Turkey Hill Farm to help drill, tap and hang buckets, and then rushed home to apply our newly-acquired knowledge in our own sugarbush.  With help from John Lipkvich of Spruce Lane Farm(also a co-op member), we collected our first load, drove it over to Turkey Hill Farm, pumped it into the holding tanks, and then sat back and watched as Stuart hovered over the arch, tending the boiling sap.  The pattern was set. 

Each morning Stuart, John, Marda and I started emptying buckets at Turkey Hill while Margaret and Lynn hitched up the horses to the cart with the collection tank. As the horses made the loop, we would empty the sap we had collected into the tank.  Stuart would go back with the first load and start boiling while the rest of us repeated the collection process.  We would usually finish at Turkey Hill Farm around lunch time, at which point John, Marda and I would come back to our woods to empty the plastic milk jugs into our collection system.  Then it was back to Turkey Hill for an afternoon and evening of boiling interrupted by a delicious pot luck supper.  At the end of each evening we went home exhausted, happy in the knowledge that we would be getting up the next morning to do it all over again.

Several years on, we have moved to actual buckets and a larger collection tank, but the routine remains the same.  Have I learned the mysteries of maple?  Not at all.  I certainly know a lot more than I did when I started, but for every question answered, many new ones have arisen.  Does it matter that those questions get answered?  Not really.  What matters is that for a month we spend time with friends and neighbors tramping in the woods and sitting in the sugarhouse, eating great food, and engaging in stimulating conversation.  What matters is that we get to do all these things while turning the sap of a very special tree into the first crop of the year - delicious maple syrup.  What matters is that as we do these things, we get to watch the slow, inexorable change from winter to spring.

 - Dan Childs, Brookfield Bees

Read more from Dan about the Essence of Sugaring and how Maple Syrup is crafted