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Saps a Runnin! Maple Sugaring Time in Vermont.
When we notice that the winter is finally fading away and the warmer days are upon us, your likely to hear Vermonters happily saying: Saps a runnin!
This last week I had an opportunity to visit Dutton’s Sugar House. The two young ladies tending to the boiling sap were friendly and helpful with answering my questions.
It was interesting to watch the process of testing the syrup; first she collected a sample of the boiling syrup in a small container. A glass probe was inserted into the hot syrup and when the probe stood up in the middle of the Syrup it was the right sugar content to be maple syrup.
In one hour they could make 9 gallons of syrup. It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.
The season for the sap to start running in Vermont is in the middle of February to end of April or when the trees start to bud. Each year the sugar content of the sap varies depending on the weather and each individual tree that’s being taped.
On my visit to Dutton’s Sugar House I was handed a sample of their delicious maple syrup. I savored the syrup while enjoying the cozy little sugar house. The room was filled with a sweet steam as the sap was boiling off the water. I felt I had visited a sauna!
