Steam blowing out the sugar house, is a welcome sign of spring for locals like Mary Smith.
By Victoria Gaither
“When you drive through the mountains and see steam blowing off in the distance, it’s sugar season. I can smell it,” said Mary Smith of Rutland, who buys only local maple syrup. “It’s the best time of year because it says spring.”
Maple trees release sap between mid-February and late April. The sweet sticky stuff collects in tanks; then it goes through a reverse osmosis machine to remove a large portion of water. It gets boiled, then the sugar concentrates and begins to caramelize, making that brown color, thus creating delicious maple syrup.
Maple syrup is a big business. According to Vermont’s Agriculture Secretary Anson Tebbetts, “Vermont is the leading maple syrup producer in the nation, with nearly half of the country’s maple production coming from the state’s family farms.”
Early March is the official start of the season and even Gov. Phil Scott got in on the action, joining Templeton Farm in East Montpelier on March 11 for a ceremonial tree tap.
Baird Farm
Farms like the Baird Farm in Chittenden (outside Rutland) have been producing maple syrup since 1918. The farm is 103 years old; Bonnie and Robert Baird own and operate it, while Jenna Baird and her partner, Jacob Powsner, run the business’s maple syrup retail side. As the temperatures rise, Jenna Baird gets excited.
“We are always optimistic about the season, but we never really know until the season is over. With a business that so heavily relies on the weather, it is always hard to tell what the season will be like,” she said.
Jenna Baird and Jacob Powsner walk the lines checking for leaks as sugaring season is underway.
Powsner and Baird never sit still; you can find them walking the lines, checking the tubes, looking for leaks, making sure nothing disrupts the flow of sap.
“The vacuum is important because it will double the amount of syrup we make here,” Powsner said. He has the personality of a comedian, laughing about how technology sends information to his phone, even if it’s early morning. “I can roll over in bed at two in the morning and see there is a problem on line 99 on the west mountain,” he joked.
A look inside the Baird Farm sugar house showing the tanks where syrup is boiled.
It’s that easygoing attitude and loveof maple syrup that makes the Baird Farm a popular destination for visitors to Vermont. Yoni Levy and Leah Haberfeld of New York, New York, visited the farm a few days before sugaring season kicked into full gear. The engaged couple came for the Bairds’ tour and taste test. “They had good reviews online, and so we came out to taste the syrup,” Huberfield said.
The couple was very impressed with the syrup, and how it’s not just used on pancakes or waffles anymore. You can buy maple ketchup, mint-infused maple syrup, and Vermont maple sriracha, just to name a few. Even amid Covid, you can contact Baird Farm to take a tour yourself. Visit bairdfarm.com/visit-our-farm to learn more.
New England Maple Museum
Before Covid-19 hit, Rhonda Gadhue and her husband, Tom, saw three tour buses a day come through the New England Maple Museum and gift shop, located at 4578 US-7 in Pittsford.
“The tour groups have stopped,” Rhonda Gadhue said, but the museum also serves as a retail store for their maple syrup, Solar Sweet Maple Syrup. “We were looking for a way to retail our syrup because we are tucked in the mountains and don’t get a lot of traffic,” she said, referring to the family’s maple farm in Lincoln.
The New England Maple Museum takes visitors step-by-step through Vermont’s maple industry. A giant syrup bottle, the largest in the world, sits in front of the museum and gift shop.
Solar Sweet Maple Farm is situated on 200 acres of managed forested land and currently gathers from 23,000 individual taps, or spouts. It is the state’s first solar-run maple farm.
“This operation is a dream come true for Tom who was bitten by the sugaring bug as a young child,” she said.
A popular exhibit at the museum is the Syrup Wall of Shame, educating visitors about the difference between real syrup and fake syrup.
While traveling on Route 7 a few years back, Tom Gadhue saw the New England Maple Museum was up for sale, told Rhonda, met with the previous owners, and didn’t look back. It’s a win-win situation.
“We get to educate visitors about maple syrup, a Vermont tradition, and showcase our maple syrup,” she said.
Owners Rhona and Tom Gahue stand in front of one of the many murals in the New England Maple Museum.
The retail store also sells other Vermont-made souvenirs and products. Gadhue said future plans include remodeling the building’s museum section, which takes visitors step-by-step through Vermont’s maple sugaring industry.
With weeks left in the season, both the Baird Farm and Solar Sweet Maple Farm hope the sap keeps flowing from the trees and onto plates of people like Smith, who swears by her local maple syrup. “Nothing beats our maple syrup,” she said.
Learn more at maplemuseum.com.
