If you've driven on dirt roads in the last week or so, it's clear that Vermont mud season has arrived. Mud season happens when temperatures rise above freezing and the snow starts to melt. The ground thaws on the surface but remains frozen deep underneath, preventing...
Vermont Maple Open House Weekend is a chance to visit sugarhouses around the state for tours, tastings, sugar-on-snow and more. About 95 Vermont sugarhouses and locations are participating in the annual statewide event on March 22-23, 2025. Total Vermont maple syrup production in 2024 was 3.1...
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...
It's nearly time to stop and smell the flowers in Vermont public gardens. Five Vermont public gardens worth visiting this spring and summer showcase peonies, roses, hydrangeas, sunflowers, lavender, fruit trees, and more. Some gardens require admission, while others are open for free. Hildene in Manchester -courtesy of...
Early spring in Vermont is a lot like late winter. At the start of a typical Vermont spring season, snow is still covering the ground, the skies are often gray, and the temperature hovers somewhere in the high 30s. Lately, it’s been a lot warmer than...
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...
I recently came across a 20-year-old article in the New York Times titled, “In Slow-Paced Vermont, the Dirt Road Reigns.” The reporter wrote, “To a lot of Vermonters, an unpaved road is a better road. People go more slowly on a dirt road. In rural Vermont,...
Updated May 1, 2019 After a long, snowy winter, it feels good that's it's finally spring in Vermont. For the first time in six months, we can walk outside without a heavy jacket, stash away our wool socks, and watch the grass grow and leaves sprout. Even though spring arrived...
Vermont dirt roads are a perfect outing during mud season. I'm serious. After a long, cold, and relentless winter in New England, we’re all eager to be outside. Still, even though it’s officially spring (yes, it snowed last night), we’ll still have to wait until...
A small sugarhouse nestled on the edge of a field along Huntington Road is where the Green Mountain Audubon Center begins. The 250-acre center has been on my list of places to visit since Phoebe was born nearly four years ago. Last weekend, we finally stopped...
