开云体育

Forrest Foster runs a small organic dairy in Hardwick. He works from about 5 a.m. to 8 or 9 p.m. every day of the week, and this time of year, in addition to all his barn chores, he sugars. Independent producer Erica Heilman stopped in last weekend to see how he was coming along.

Forrest Foster: "This is yesterday afternoon鈥檚. Dip right down in. Is that good?"

Erica: "Oh man."

Forrest Foster: "And help yourself to it. I drank pretty near that jugful. I had a pint jug full. I drank pretty near that much the first afternoon 鈥� before I got done chores, I had it gone. I鈥檝e had this in here since 1999, and I ain鈥檛 burned it. And most everybody gets three years or four years and they get comfortable or they think they can go out and look or ... "

Erica: "Go out and look at what?"

Forrest Foster: "How much sap there is in the thing. You do that... I know how much sap鈥檚 in there. I know that at 2:30, I鈥檓 going to start letting it slow down and not burn the rig. I want sap left when I鈥檓 done."

Erica: "OK, so, you can go and check your sap supply. What are the six other reasons why you burn your pan? You know a lot of stories about why things go wrong."

Forrest Foster: "They think they can go away from it and鈥� I stay and wait till it鈥檚 done boiling, and then I go feed cows for a while, and just before dark I come back out and cover the pan... and have it so it鈥檚 clean and ready to use in the morning.

"Every batch of sap鈥檚 got a different amount of sugar in it. One day you can boil all day and make 10 gallons. The next day you can boil all day and make 30 gallons, because you got more sugar in the thing. Mother Nature controls everything we do about making reality. And the sweeter it is, the faster you make syrup, you鈥檙e out of sap pretty quick. And so there ain鈥檛 nothing you can do if you don鈥檛 have a storage supply right here handy and be watching it, you鈥檒l burn the pans."

Erica: "OK but what I鈥檓 driving at here鈥� people like to visit and drink."

Forrest Foster: "Yup. Oh yeah. Well, it鈥檚 one of the biggest things, is sugarhouse parties. And time don鈥檛 pass like it should be. You got to have somebody鈥檚 eyes on the sap in the pan, or you won鈥檛 have a pan with any sap in it."

Erica: "How does time pass?"

Forrest Foster: "You鈥檙e drinking, telling a story and then somebody else adds to a story and pretty quick three stories are gone by and you need to be drawing off syrup and making sure your sap鈥檚 coming in. My nephew turned 50 on the fifth day of January. Well three or four years ago he comes in. When I get the fire going, that front door will be red hot. I mean cherry red. He smokes a cigarette, he鈥檚 gonna open the door and throw the thing in. Bare-handed, he goes over and sticks that鈥� he steps over here鈥�"

Erica: "It鈥檚 the door to the fire."

Forrest Foster: "Yup. He put his hand just like that鈥� this is all bright red. I mean it鈥檚 267 degrees. And he done like that and all of his meat and skin stayed stuck right onto that and it sizzled just like a hot dog in a frying pan. You know, he grew up around sugaring. He knew. Too many beers and too much smoking."

Erica Heilman

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VPR

Erica: "How much weed gets smoked around鈥�?"

Forrest Foster: "By the tons. Actually by the tons. The boys laugh at me. I used to go to the Orleans Commission sale. We had weekly sales. Tuesday night get done chores at 7:00 p.m., we went to Orleans and you could buy 40 pounds of bananas for 10 cents a pound or a calf or a pig or a used up old boar that needed to be fed a little bit and the sausage will go you all winter out of one pig. And two of my brothers get in the truck with me, and they started rolling their own home-rolled marijuana thing in there, and smoked that thing. I rolled my window down, I鈥檇 liked to die. And he says, 鈥榊eah you got high once! It was a contact high!鈥� And that was the last trip to Orleans with me. I don鈥檛 like that stuff at all.

"You know, I still got pretty near every old tool I ever had. These are bit braces. This is how you used to do. You go up to the thing and put in these three worms and cranking it and when you can crank that thing into a maple tree 600 times between milking night and morning, you鈥檝e got a sore shoulder."

Erica: "OK, so it鈥檚 like an auger."

Forrest Foster: "Yup. This worm helps draw it into the tree鈥�"

Erica: "The worm is also a thread鈥�"

Forrest Foster: "Yup. And it keeps the shavings coming back out. My horses learned my voice just as good as could be. Dad and I had 1,700 buckets on individual trees. He鈥檇 stay in the sugarhouse and boil, and I鈥檇 go to every tree with two five-gallon pails and lug it鈥� and if I come out to the road a 100 feet down the road, I鈥檇 tell them, 鈥楯eeup Dolly! Jeeup Babe!鈥� and they鈥檇 come over and stop where I was. They minded, because they done every day, and when I鈥檓 feeding them night and morning, I鈥檓 talking to them or cleaning them out and bedding them. You always connected with the earth and the animals and stuff and it鈥檚鈥� it鈥檚 the way of life. Back then."

Erica: "Year after year after year, 1,700 buckets on these trees. What do you think about the trees?"

Forrest Foster: "Keeping 'em healthy. You know if there鈥檚 a tree a foot through and it鈥檚 got a lot of branches and a lot of 鈥� you got good sap flow, put two buckets on it. If you got one that鈥檚 kind of tall and narrow and in a thick place in the woods there and not very much branches, just put one spout on it. Too much manure is too much potash. It鈥檒l kill an apple orchard in three years. Maple trees same way. They can stand the rotten down hay, rotten down oat straw, all of that stuff, because it makes humus. The leaves that go back in there鈥� you see them chips that I got? That鈥檚 what a lot of that is, to go around the thing. To make carbon and humus. It makes the trees food. You want to keep them as long as you can. It鈥檚 a good marriage, that鈥檚 what it is. You tend to them and keep 'em working because they鈥檙e also working for you all the time. The better you treat 'em, put back some chips and some hay鈥� once in a while if I have extra horse manure I鈥檒l put a little on, but I don鈥檛 put cow manure, that鈥檚 got too much potash or cow piss鈥�"

Erica: "But you put a little."

Forrest Foster: "You put a little. It鈥檚 like I was saying. Have a can of beer but don鈥檛 drink a 30-pack every day. Don鈥檛 overdo. Just nourish 'em a little bit. I鈥檝e got 'em, that鈥檚 42 years, and they鈥檙e just as good as when I started tapping. There鈥檚 trees there that are probably 250 years old. They鈥檙e still doing good sap and giving plenty and still growing good. Yeah. It鈥檚 a life. It鈥檚 your whole life to learn all those things, and it鈥檚 a whole life.

"See that drip?"

Erica: "Yup."

Forrest Foster: "That鈥檚 thawing out and letting that go. That鈥檚 gonna thaw this line out and I can go ahead and build the fire and that will come in enough to supply us."

Erica: "So you don鈥檛 have to pour precious sap鈥�"

Forrest Foster: "Yup! We ain鈥檛 got to waste any precious sap on ..."

Erica: "There are long periods of quietude where everything鈥檚 right, everything鈥檚 working. What are some of the big ideas you have out here?"

Forrest Foster: "Set on that milk can right there and eat a jelly donut and maple syrup. I don鈥檛 have big ideas. I just get through one more day and make some more syrup and eat some of it."

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