Sugarers anticipate sweet season

Author: Kelly Janis

"Sugaring is part of Vermont's identity, culture and history," said Susan Folino, who owns and operates Hillsboro Sugarworks in Starksboro, Vt. with her husband, David. "I think when people hear the name Vermont, they make the association with maple syrup quite frequently, and quite quickly."

According to the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association, Vermont is the largest producer of pure maple syrup in the United States, owing to its ideal climate and soil conditions, and strict guidelines governing the density, flavor and color of the finished product. In a typical year, approximately 460,000 gallons of syrup flow from the state's wealth of maple tree groves, from which sap is extracted during a four to six week season which may begin as early as February in southern portions of the state, and extend through late April in the northernmost regions.

"An air of romance associated with this long-established industry calls back many people each year to hear the roar of the raging fire, to inhale the sweet aroma of the boiling syrup and to partake of the unmatched flavor of Vermont maple syrup," the Association says on its "Maple Fact Sheet."

Dakin Farm embraced this air at its annual Sugar on Snow Party, held on March 15 and 16 at its store and smokehouse in Ferrisburgh - 18 miles north of Middlebury on U.S. Route 7 - where it has boiled sap, smoked meat and sold a wide array of specialty foods for the past 48 years. Over the weekend, visitors were invited to indulge in a breakfast of buttermilk pancakes, bacon and sausage, sample this year's maple crop poured over snow or ice cream, watch sap-boiling demonstrations and enjoy live music.

"We're having a celebration of springtime in Vermont," said Dakin Farm's president Sam Cutter Jr., who joined his father in the family business immediately after graduating from the University of Vermont in 1980. "We're really proud of our maple syrup, and want to celebrate the season."

Cutter fondly recounted the event's history as he donned a red apron bearing the slogan "What Vermont Tastes Like" and cooked sweet Italian sausage for a steady stream of revelers.

"We used to have a little shack out back where we made the maple syrup," he said.

"I remember that," a visitor interjected as she swiped a free sample off the table.

"We would drive up into the mountains and get tubs of snow," Cutter continued. "We would put it in these little boats and heat up maple syrup to a thicker consistency and pour it on the snow."

The farm has adjusted its procedure in ensuing years.

"Sometimes the snow up in the mountains isn't so clean, so we've been crushing ice instead recently, and that actually works better," Cutter said.

Cutter described this year's maple season as having great potential, but added that "it's very, very early yet."

"The sap hasn't run very much," he said. "It's still very cold in the mountains. There's a lot of snow and a lot of ice up there. We need freezing cold nights and warm, sunny days - warm enough to thaw out the pipeline and get the sap flowing. We've had a few of those, but we need a lot more."

According to Cutter, maple syrup is currently in short supply worldwide.

"There used to be a big surplus in Quebec, and that surplus always sat there and kept prices down," he explained. "But that surplus is gone, and demand is really high for maple."

Cutter attributes this increase in demand to the surging popularity of natural foods, and an influx in marketing industry-wide.

"There's a lot of pressure on the crop this year," he said. "We hope to make a lot of syrup. We don't like to see the price go up too high, because then it's unattainable for some people."

Addison County maple producers are confident they can rise to the challenge. Hillsboro Sugarworks, for instance - which, as of Monday, had already boiled syrup twice - is off to what Folino described as a promising start.

"I think it's going to be a good year," she said. "I'm really hopeful."

Folino said other sugar makers with whom she has spoken are also pleased with the season's opening strains, and have reported yielding plenty of "light, fancy syrup" thus far.

According to owner Paul Greco, Two Old Saps Sugarworks in Lincoln, Vt. produced 35 gallons of syrup on Sunday night, but was unable to proceed on Monday due to low temperatures.

"It looks pretty promising right now, but we never know until we get to the month of May what we're going to end up with," said Gary Gaudette, president of Leader Evaporator - a Swanton, Vt. maple equipment supplier - and "guest boiler" at Dakin Farm's Sugar on Snow Party. "It's all controlled by Mother Nature, and we just hope she's going to work with us."

Many local sugarers lend Mother Nature a hand as innovators in their field. Folino noted that Hillsboro - which, for the past 20 years, has made monthly deliveries of three and a half gallon buckets of maple syrup to each of the College's dining halls - maintains regular delivery routes and markets its products directly.

"A lot of the sugar makers in Vermont are hobbyists who operate on a smaller scale," Folino explained. "We do it as a full-time profession."

In addition, Folino said Hillsboro is one of only five maple producers in the state to yield syrup by means of steam evaporation, which relies on large, stainless steel pans to expedite the process.

"The industry has changed a lot over the past 15 years," Gaudette said. "We've developed a lot higher technology."

Despite such advances, the maple industry remains heavily rooted in tradition.

"We buy most of our syrup from large family farms which have been in the family for five or six generations," Cutter said. "A lot of these families still use teams of work horses to work in the woods and gather in the sap."

Vermont sugarhouses will kick off the sugaring season officially during the Seventh Annual Maple Open House Weekend, to be held statewide from March 28 to 30. A list of sugar makers offering tours, demonstrations and free samples in conjunction with the event can be found at http://www.vermontmaple.org/open-house.html.