Vermont produces more than of the country鈥檚 maple syrup. And on , dozens of sugarhouses across the state invite visitors in to see how it鈥檚 done.
University of Vermont reporter Kate Lewton and editor Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer toured Nebraska Knoll Sugar Farm in Stowe and Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington, and brought back this audio postcard.
This story was produced for the ear. We highly recommend listening to the audio. We鈥檝e also provided a transcript below.
Kate Lewton: I鈥檓 at Nebraska Knoll Sugar Farm in Stowe. And I would not be recording without the help of Lew Coty, who gave me a working memory card when mine broke.
Coty is the longtime owner of Nebraska Knoll.
Lew Coty: I鈥檝e been taking punishment here for close to 50 years now.
Kate Lewton: 鈥淧unishment,鈥� of course, is tongue in cheek. Coty and his family have run this sugarhouse since 1980, and each March they tap 9,000 trees on the hillside.
Lew Coty: There鈥檚 definitely a lot of romance associated with it.
Kate Lewton: But it鈥檚 not all romance. The success of sugaring relies on weather, machinery and people, all of which occasionally have a will of their own.
Lew Coty: It鈥檚 a lot of hard work. It is extremely frustrating at times. But there鈥檚 something extremely seductive about it. And other days I just marvel.
Kate Lewton: For Coty, the magic of maple is that a gourmet food can come out of a tree. All you need is some blood, sweat, tears and an evaporator.
Lew Coty: That鈥檚 how I got sucked into it. And after 50 years, I still can鈥檛 give it up.
Kate Lewton: Sugaring is something quintessentially Vermont. And Coty says visitors from out of state flock to see it happen.
Lew Coty: I think they like to see the whole process, from the sap coming into the lines, through the reverse osmosis, into the evaporator, and from there into their cup.
Kate Lewton: Lynne Goldsmith is visiting Nebraska Knoll today. She鈥檚 a Stowe local. And more importantly, she鈥檚 a maple fanatic.
Lynne Goldsmith: I go through a gallon of maple syrup about every two months. I use a lot.
Kate Lewton: Goldsmith is a relatively new enthusiast. She got hooked after a friend gave her family-made maple syrup.
Lynne Goldsmith: That was my first exposure to maple overdose. And I鈥檝e been powering through them ever since.
Kate Lewton: Goldsmith was at Nebraska Knoll to experience another first.
Lynne Goldsmith: I鈥檇 never had sugar on snow. And I wouldn鈥檛 have heard of it if I hadn鈥檛 been watching a cooking show where they had Alton Brown on a show called 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your Favorite Food?鈥� And he said sugar on snow. And then when he described it, I鈥檓 like, 鈥淗ow is that possible?鈥� Like pickles and donuts and 鈥� anyway, so I had to try it.
Kate Lewton: Lew Coty talks about sugaring as a meditative practice.
You can see it for yourself the next time you鈥檙e in Stowe. And maybe even meet Lew.
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: I鈥檓 in the sugarbush at the Green Mountain Audubon Center in Huntington.
Hugo Beam: Let鈥檚 see how much is in it!
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: 5-year-old Hugo Beam is showing me how he collects sap from a metal bucket hanging from one of the maple trees.
Hugo Beam: Holy cow! Look how much sap is in there!
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: Hugo is here with his parents and older brother for the Audubon Center鈥檚 annual Sugar on Snow Party.
The day Hugo and I were there, more than 900 people came through to tap trees, collect sap, eat sugar on snow with a pickle, and spend time in the sugarhouse, watching sap boil over a wood fire.
That鈥檚 where 15-year-old Remy Guertin is volunteering. Remy is from Duxbury, and he says he鈥檚 been sugaring for as long as he can remember.
Remy Guertin: It鈥檚 really part of Vermont culture. I mean, every store you find maple that鈥檚 probably been made 10, 15 miles away. All the sugar makers know each other. And it鈥檚 just something like, everyone sees the buckets out, the tubing running, steam coming out, and it鈥檚 just, it鈥檚 sugaring season.
Steve Hagenbuch: The lighter stuff is a golden color and a very delicate maple flavor鈥�
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: Steve Hagenbuch is giving a maple grading demonstration in the sugarhouse. He鈥檚 worked with Audubon Vermont for 27 years. One of his colleagues called him 鈥淢r. Maple.鈥�
Steve Hagenbuch: Maple is iconic Vermont. It鈥檚 way more than just a product that we produce. It鈥檚 a way of life and an identity for many people.
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: Hagenbuch leads the program. It gets maple producers across the region involved with bird conservation efforts. It鈥檚 all about being good stewards of the forest.
Steve Hagenbuch: Forests really do play lots of other important roles year-round, not just during the couple of weeks of the sugaring season, but also supporting birds and biodiversity and climate resilience and all the important things that forests do for us, sugarbushes are part of that.
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: Little kids are running from tree to tree collecting sap around us. And Hagenbuch says he wants more people to understand how we get maple syrup 鈥� and really, all our food.
Steve Hagenbuch: Fewer and fewer people today are connected to the land. And so the more that we can do to have young people understand that maple syrup doesn鈥檛 come from a store, it comes from the forest and the people that are working out there to make it happen, that is something that we want to support as much as we possibly can.
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: Hagenbuch says anyone who likes maple syrup should experience collecting sap on a cold, wet day in knee-deep snow.
Steve Hagenbuch: It builds character, being out there in the woods.
Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer: If you want to join the next big maple celebration, you can head to St. Albans at the end of April for the .
This story comes from a collaboration between 开云体育 and the , a University of Vermont journalism internship. Production support by Kelsey Tolchin-Kupferer.
