You'll be astonished by the sugarhouses themselves. They're not all the
picturesque little shacks in the woods. A few are large, modern
structures with stainless steel, reverse osmosis, computers, fancy
gauges and dials, which are not as complicated as they look because
they're only boiling sap into syrup just like the modest old-fashioned
ones. Most often, the sap flows from the trees through plastic tubing
that goes directly to a holding tank. Some small operators still hang
buckets from the trees and hand carry the sap. It's hard work but that's
how the early sugarmakers brought in their first cash crop of the year.
Go to a sugarhouse and they'll show you how.
Syrup is the most popular outcome of maple sap, but there's more.
There's regular maple sugar which is expensive and not used much except
for special recipes or to sprinkle on deserts. Then, there's maple
candy, which is a solid chunk of maple sugar that has been pressed into a
mold and left to harden. A softer sugar is sometimes called jack wax.
It's satiny, amber colored, about the consistency of glue. It's been
boiled beyond the syrup point and poured, hot, over shaved ice or packed
snow for the delectable "sugar on snow." You eat it with a fork and
slowly, because it sticks to your teeth. A huge favorite is maple cream,
denser than whipped cream; it's made the same way. Air is whipped into
syrup which has been heated to 233 degrees. It spreads like butter and
is unbelievably good on a hot slice of toast. Maple butter is different.
You can make your own by whipping a stick of unsalted butter until it's
smooth, then keep whipping and gradually drizzle in the syrup a few
drops at a time. When it meets your taste, put it in the refrigerator to
firm up and use it like butter.
Getting to a sugarhouse can be an adventure in itself. The snow is
melting and the ground is soggy. Not all sugarhouses are on paved roads.
Some are set back from the farm buildings, in the woods, amidst a stand
of maple trees. Those are the old ones and sometimes have jack-knifed
initials and dates carved into the walls, reminders of past sugaring-off
parties.
It's a wonderful day trip for children. They'll get sticky so take
little wipes or a damp washcloth, paper towels and your camera. Expect
mud and have a good time.
NEARBY SUGARMAKERS
Listed below are a few of the nearby sugarmakers who will have signs out
for open house, but there are hundreds of sugarmakers in the state.
They boil at different times, depending on the sap flow. You can always
tell when they're boiling by the sweet-scented cloud over the
sugarhouse. Sniff them out and stop by. They're all selling Vermont
sugar. There are no open house participants listed in The Valley this
year.
Two Old Saps Sugar Works: Route 17, 635 Russell Young Road.
www.twooldsaps
Hillsboro Sugarworks: Mountainside Lane, three miles past Jerusalem
Store; L to
Gore Road, L to Beam Road, five-minute hike to sugarhouse.
Mom & Pop's Best Maple Syrup: 3425 Brandon Mountain Road, Rochester.
Bragg Farm: 1005 Route 14, E. Montpelier.
Morse Farm: Montpelier, follow Main Street north, veer right at
roundabout; Pancake breakfast Sunday.
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