Vermont maple sugaring is a tradition built on hard work, risk, and reward. At Judd's Wayeeses Farms in Morgan, Jim Judd and Donna Young have honed their craft for decades. Their sugarbush stretches across 45 acres of thick maple woods, with almost 90 trees per acre, which...
Few places are as closely connected to maple syrup as Vermont. For generations, the practice of transforming sap into something sweet has shaped the state’s culture and landscape. "Maple sugaring is so rewarding because you’ve actually done something. You’ve taken part of nature and you’ve turned...
Butternut Mountain is the tallest peak that falls entirely within the town of Johnson. On the mountain's southern slope, the Marvin family owns 600 acres where they produce maple syrup for their business, Butternut Mountain Farm. David Marvin started Butternut Mountain Farm in the early 1970s...
Eric and Sonja Withington are returning to their roots. Eric grew up sugaring with his uncle in his hometown of Barnard. Thousands of miles away in Austria, Sonja spent her childhood foraging fresh greens, flowers, berries, and herbs to create herbal teas, syrups, and home remedies...
Ana Fernandez came to Vermont on a whim last year when a friend told her about a job opening at Nebraska Knoll Sugar Farm in Stowe. The Michigan native is now spending her second season sugaring at the farm, spending her days (and nights) boiling sap, changing the...
"My great-grandmother started this farm in 1918. She ran a bed and breakfast out of the house and made maple syrup on the property. When my father was a boy, she introduced him to the Vermont tradition of maple sugaring. One of the things we...
-Doug Brown boils sap at Slopeside Syrup in Richmond. The Cochran family is famous for its tiny ski hill and 70s-era Olympic champions. While the next generation of Cochrans is continuing the ski racing tradition, four family members are pouring their energy into producing Vermont maple syrup. Just...
Kenn Hastings knows all about catching the “sugar bug.” A sugarmaker at Bread Loaf View Farm in Cornwall, Hastings starting sugaring for a living 30 years ago.“There’s a love and passion that goes into being a sugarmaker,” says Hastings, 57. [caption id="attachment_5226" align="alignright" width="167"] Filmmaker Will...
On a thousand acres in Fairfield stand more than 68,000 maple trees tapped for sugaring season. The trees are part of Branon Family Maple Orchards, located in the heart of sugaring country in Franklin County, not far from the Canadian border. The Branons have been involved in...
When Vermont maple season arrives, I'm always drawn to the sugar houses of rural Addison County. We recently visited Bread Loaf View Farm in Cornwall, which was open to the public for the annual Maple Open House Weekend. The farm is a 30-acre maple sugar...
