Last weekend we were blessed with Friday's snowfall with frosted trees upon entering Vermont, along with a blue bird sky, passing clouds and the promise of wonderful maple adventures to come. It was quite cold with a wind chill kicking up that kept us bundled in layers, all of which added to the ambiance of the day! The smell of maple coming off the evaporators was divine! I just closed my eyes and immersed myself in maple heaven! A treat for the senses not to be missed! I can still recall the exhilaration I felt with each and every breath! We hit 8, yes 8, sugar houses all in one day. Five of which were in Whitingham for their annual maple fest weekend. A select few were not boiling due to the very cold weather as they did not have sap. Mother Nature was initially not fully cooperating this season which made for a late tapping. It made no difference to us, because we loved talking to everyone just the same. We decided to up our game and visited 3 new sugar houses all in Brattleboro on the way back to 91. So many different kinds of sugaring operations! Of “course” we hit “Corse” to see the enormous evaporator and to have some maple shakes! The ride in was beautiful as always, a sap-bucket-lined dirt road with paralleling stones walls. It made for quite a picturesque winter scene. I was geared up for my sugar on snow at another operation and it was divine! A very special stop was to Robb Family Farm way out on Ames Hill Road in Brattleboro. A generational meet and greet there that was so heartwarming!
The mud was no issue this trip due to the extreme cold; we only hit one or two pockets of tire sucking mud, but being in a truck, it was kind of fun! We were always treated like family and I sincerely appreciate the hard work Vermonters put into sugaring. My life is truly enriched by visiting during maple open house weekend. I just wished I lived closer and I would go to a different sugar house every day as long as the boiling lasted! Maple donuts, maple cream, maple shakes, maple ice cream, maple nuts, sugar on snow, the list goes on. But best of all, hot maple syrup tastings right off the evaporator. It just doesn't get any better than that! The best part of the tours is meeting all the wonderful sugaring folks. Passionate, knowledgeable, kind, welcoming and beaming with pride!
The icing on the cake, was the wagon ride through the snow covered fields into the sugar bush with two gorgeous Belgians! Ahhhh, paradise!!!!!!!!!! Next year we are heading out earlier and going further north to central Vermont to try out a whole new sugar house tour.
Vermonters sure put on their maple victory dance this past weekend! Kudos to you all! CT