Its All About The Maple in Vermont

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Its All About The Maple in Vermont

So what did we learn after our oh so sweet adventure? When it’s spring in Vermont, thoughts turn to maple sugaring. From back yard buckets  to big commercial evaporators, its all about the maple. Warm days and cold nights get the sap running and when the governor thinks its going to hit peak, he announces the annual Maple Sugar Festival. Sugar Houses, inns, restaurants, craft fairs all join in with special hours and events.

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Its a culture of Maple

We met down to earth, hard working people who took great pride in their maple products and the Vermont Maple Products reputation. Even in the city (Brattleboro) there was still a hard working rural ethic. We even found one sugar house that sold their products on the honor system. Their cash sat out on a table in a basket. You were trusted to pay for your purchases and if you made change to be honest. No credit cards required.

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We Learned about Grades

No, not the kind you get in school. We learned there are different grades of maple syrup. I learned that I like the most refined grade, the Golden,  the best although the Amber was a close 2nd. We talked about apples and orchards as well as maple and sampled maple cream, cider donuts and maple cookies.

Photo by Jr St Jean, Take Pride Photography  https://www.facebook.com/JRStJeanPhotographer/

To sum it up

We had a great time but to really get the most out of the Festival I’d like to get a room and spend the weekend. I’d drive up Friday night so I could get an early start on Saturday.  http://vermontmaple.org/ Enjoy a pancake breakfast, explore more of the Sugar Houses. Some example of activities offered at participating sugar houses include:

  • Tours of sugar house and woods
  • Pancake breakfasts
  • Maple candy-making demonstrations
  • Live music
  • Horse-drawn sleigh rides
  • Sugar-on-snow
  • Sampling of maple syrup
  • Maple donuts, maple cotton candy, maple creemees and other maple goodies to try
  • Maple syrup and maple specialty products to purchase

I’m sure I’d make myself sick with so much sugar but it’s only one weekend, Right?

One last thing I learned. I understand why reporters don’t take their own photos. I felt very rude taking out the camera while someone was busy explaining about their business. I missed  quite a few photos and Joe was nice enough to share his pictures to fill in what I missed.

Travel Blogger by JR. St Jean

Maybe next year I can spend the weekend in Vermont for Maple Sugar Festival.

 

 

 

Time for One More in Jacksonville, Vermont

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Jacksonville Vermont Sugar House

After a brief lunch just to prove to my stomach that there are foods other than donuts and sweet maple candy we figured we had time for 1 more stop before the sugar houses began to shut down for the day. Joe pulled up his little map for the next closest Sugar House and found Sprague & Son Sugar House in Jacksonville, Vermont.

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I was still looking for the sugar-on-snow, a treat from my childhood. We’d had the snow all day but so far only our first stop had boiling sap and it wasn’t ready to be poured over snow. It had a lot more cooking to do before then.

Sampling more Maple

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Our wintry mix had turned more to rain when we spotted Sprague & Son. They had some nice decorative touches with a wood carving out front and a miniature sugar house.

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This sugar house was busier than the first two and quite crowded. Their samples were something called maple crunches which looked to me like crumbled maple sugar candy. A great way to recycle broken maple candies. But the big item they were pushing was called Maple Creme. They had a large bowl of it and lots of little wooden spoons. It has a thick, smooth consistency like frosting. Another hit! It wouldn’t take too much of this to overdose on sugar!

The Evaporator

Their evaporator was right there in the main room. Something was steaming but it might just have been water. They said they had run out of sap to boil. They too use the plastic tubing to bring the sap from the trees to the evaporator. I didn’t hear anyone say what they use for fuel but I’m guessing wood if the wood piles outside are any indication. They had some very attractive product displays.

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Joe got the picture of the day here when he noticed a window covered in condensation with bottles of syrup balanced on the panes.

Photo by Joe St. Jean, Take Pride Photography https://www.facebook.com/JRStJeanPhotographer/

Maple Walnut

Behind the cash register was a soft serve machine. The only flavor, why Maple of course! Buy a cup of maple soft serve, sprinkle in some maple gazed walnuts, top with a splash of maple syrup and voila! Maple Walnut soft serve. (that’s for my sister, Sandy).

All About Sprague & Son

I couldn’t find a website that worked but I did find them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Sprague-Son-Sugarhouse-290671490950920/

There was also a nice write up on their history at http://www.whitingham-maplefest.us/sprague.html

Locate at 1631 Rt 100 this was the easiest of the 3 sugar houses to find. Open daily during Sugaring season. Weekends and Holidays the remainder of the year. Free samples of all of their products are always available.

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Dwight Miller & Son, Dummerston Vermont

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Dwight Miller & Son, Dummerston, Vermont

The “wintry mix” was getting worse but neither Joe nor I was ready to call it a day yet.We’d driven all this way and only seen one Maple Sugar House and a quaint covered bridge.

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We had to keep going. On Star saved the route we entered before our brief photo stop so it wasn’t long before we had gone around Brattleboro to arrive at Dummerston, Vermont.

Once again we slipped and slid our way along a sloppy dirt road. I could feel the mud pulling at the tires. I didn’t need the little  on my dash board. We spotted the plastic tubing first then as we came up a little rise we saw the sign, Dwight Miller & Son Orchards and under that a hand made  “Maple Open House”.

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The Sugar House

No billowing clouds of steam here. It was pretty damp and chilly inside too. One car load of people were leaving as we came in and then it was just us. Mr. Miller was quite hospitable. It was clear he enjoyed talking about his work. He gave us the grand tour past huge vats where the raw sap came in from the vacuum tubing to the smaller vats where it was filtered but I didn’t see an evaporator.

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Turns out it was outside and it was huge. This wasn’t a wood burning monster. No this one ran on oil. Right now it was shut down but this was a true commercial operation.

Back out front there was a tasting table. On the table were some of the most delectable donut holes I have ever tasted. I think they were cider donuts. They were light and coated in cinnamon sugar. The sign said 1 per person but like the potato chips, it was hard to eat just one. A jug of cider with little cups  rested next to the donuts.

The Taste Test

Like a wine tasting, tiny little paper cups were set up with 3 different grades of syrup. As “Dwight” explained the different grades I slowly sampled each one. To my surprise my favorite was the “Golden”. The lightest color and the lightest taste. I thought I’d like the strong dark one but no, the light one was the best.

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This sugar house and orchard concentrates on maple syrup only. No candy, no maple creme, no maple coated nuts. Just syrup. When I asked why, I was told they had so much demand for their syrup that they couldn’t produce enough to have the other lines of products. So obviously this was where we bought the syrup for Joe’s sister, Bobbi-Jo.

Where to find Dwight Miller Orchards

Dwight Miller Orchards is located at 511 Miller Rd, Dummerston, VT 05301.

 

 

Scenic Vermont

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Scenic Vermont

As we pulled out of the Robb Family Farm we called On Star for directions to the 2nd Sugar House on the list. With the big snow flakes coming down it was easy to see why Vermont has a reputation for being scenic. The rural ambiance was only enhanced by the wintry weather.

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Creamery Covered Bridge

On the way in we’d passed a red, covered bridge. Now Joe suggested we pull over for a photo op.

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Named the Creamery Covered Bridge it is the only covered bridge left in Brattleboro, Vermont. It is well maintained and it seems the town is serious about keeping it that way. A large boulder has been placed in front of it to prevent cars from driving over it. You can walk but you can’t drive.

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Of course the bridge is an iconic shot but the stream that runs under the bridge is interesting too. I took some time to take a few photos of that as well as the bridge.

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I heard that this is a popular spot for wedding photos during the summer. I can see why.

The Sugar House at the Robb Family Farm

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The Sugar House at the Robb Family Farm

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Stepping into the Sugar House at the Robb Family Farm was like stepping back in time. The rich maple aroma washed over you immediately. Who cares about maple syrup. Lets just make a perfume like this…heavenly!

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The Sugar House is made of wood; wooden floors, wooden doors, wooden tables. Take a right as you enter the shop, push open a wooden door and you are right where the magic happens. Most of the room is taken up by a huge furnace or stove or I’m not sure what to call it except what it is, an evaporator. It’s a huge fire box with large, shallow pans to boil the the sap into the thick, sweet, gooey goodness we all love on our morning pancakes.

From Sap to Syrup

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It takes an amazing amount of sap to make even 1 quart of syrup. Usually about 40 gallons of sap are required to produce one gallon of finished syrup. This evaporator is burning wood for fuel which explains the huge woodpiles we saw as we came in.

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It’s a feast for the senses. Imagine the smells of a wood burning fireplace with a strong overlay of maple.

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To the right of the evaporator was a small table with maple cookies and homemade donuts, free samples. I especially liked the cookies. One of the maple farmers was watching over the process and explaining everything to the crowd as we filtered through.

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Vermont Maple Sugar Products

Back in the shop I had to choose. Did I want a big maple leaf or a small bag of maple candy or something in between. It all looked so good and of course it smelled good so it’s hard to resist.

Some History

It’s no wonder the Sugar House looks old. The Robb Family Farm was established in 1907. For 105 years the farm was a commercial dairy farm but in 2011 the farm became victim of the badly fluctuating dairy prices and milked its last cow. That was when they began to concentrate on the Vermont Maple Syrup products.

The farm also shifted from dairy to beef. Now you can purchase naturally grown and fed beef, no antibiotics and no hormones. I haven’t tried Robb Family Farm beef but we raised our own beef when I was growing up and it definitely tastes better than the standard grocery store beef.

What a great start to our Vermont Maple Syrup Festival! A very traditional Sugar House with a wood burning evaporator, yummy maple cookies and donuts and a warm, friendly atmosphere.

I don’t know if the Robb Family Farm is open to visitors or tours when it’s not the big Maple Sugar Festival but they have an online store at http://robbfamilyfarm.com/

I can personally vouch for their maple sugar candy…2 thumbs up!

If you plan a visit they are located at 827 Ames Hill Rd. Brattleboro, VT. 802-257-0163

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