A Visit to Solar Sweet Maple Farm
March 24, 2013
For Vermont’s annual Maple Open House Weekend, we decided to check out Solar Sweet Maple Farm in Lincoln.
Owned by Tom and Rhonda Gadhue, the farm is an energy-efficient sugaring operation. The Gadhue’s stunning sugarhouse is made from recycled and energy efficient materials (the main building was moved from Jamaica, Vermont to Lincoln). The sugarhouse is powered by solar energy and heated from wood that is harvested on the 200-acre property.
We’ve been going to Maple Open House Weekend for the past several years, and Solar Sweet Maple Farm offers an interesting, environmentally-focused twist that we haven’t seen before. Tom and Rhonda were great hosts and we hope to see them again!
For more information, visit solarsweetmaplefarm.com.
Richard Carpenter
Posted at 19:14h, 11 AprilHi Tom: I am 80 yrs. old and have hunted in the area(Big Basin) for about 35 yrs. Once in awhile I venture down the old logging road around Mt Grant, from the Cooley Glen Trail by your place and hit the S. Lincoln Rd. and back to my truck rather than cross the brook. Your employee gave my hunting partner and myself a grand tour and we were very impressed. The person I hunt with is Kevin Booth, that is a family with roots in the area but now lives in Conneticut. I am from Barre and hunt out of my brother in-laws camp. (Ronan Duclos) who was one of the last to log to log in the basin before it was closed to logging. Ron is in his nineties now but his mind is pretty good. He was going to come and see your operation but did not feel up to it. Anyway I enjoy looking at different sugar operations. I just came from sugar on snow at the Bragg sugarhouse. He makes about 600 gallons on a good year and said he was about 75% to that goal and he was boiling. He is all buckets which is quite rare today. We have also been to Morse’s Sugar house and had sugar on snow. I am good friends with Burr Morse. I play the saxophone and he is a trombone player and we have been at it for a long time. Burr has approx. 3500 taps and has a large amount of people ffor sugar on snow and the gift shop. Tour busses,etc. They have been at it for a long time and have a good sized mail order business. I am trying to get my wife to go for a ride to see your sugar house. Good luck with your harvest, Carp