RSS Feed
|
|||||
|
Vt. Maple Syrup Season
For the majority of maple syrup producers in Central Vermont 2007 was a discouraging year: tough tapping in thigh-deep snow, poor quality sap, low-volume production, and darker-than-usual syrup. But as usual, the sugaring gods are unpredictable. At Maverick Sugarbush in Sharon, Blaine Moore said Tuesday he was "just jumping for joy," swimming in 6100 gallons of fresh syrup. As a rule, the higher the sugarbush, and the farther east you got in Orange County, the happier the reports. "Everyone I talked to ended the season making extremely light syrup," said Herald correspondent Emily Marshia in Chelsea. The end of March brought some of the darkest syrup in years, she reported, but the April runs turned light. At the end of the season, syrup color is almost always darker than in the beginng. Go figure. Some Chelsea farmers also reported that though light, the end-of-year syrup was of a "full robust maple flavor in addition to the glorious golden color," said Marshia, whose family runs the Terry Libby sugaring operation on West Hill and produced a full crop on 500 taps. For most sugarmakers, especially in the Randolph area, however, this was a sugaring season best forgotten. "My worst year ever," said Clotilde Hryshko, who tapped 500 in East Brookfield. We should have 100 gallons but have only 50 at this point. There were days when it was perfect weather, but we never had a good run." For Ralph Ward, one of Barnard’s biggest sugarmakers, it was the first year since 1912 that the farm had not produced any fancy grade syrup at all. His 5000 taps had produced 810 gallons as of Tuesday, which he called "only a half crop." Twice the Work For that half-crop, Ward found he had to do twice the work. Tapping followed the 30-inch Valentine’s Day snowfall and his "three young guys on snowshoes" found it took them seven days of backbreaking labor to complete the job, instead of the usual three. Then, the sap that flowed had a much lower sweetness content than usual. Whereas it usually takes 30-40 gallons of sap to produce a gallon of syrup, Ward said he was sometimes boiling down 80-90 gallons of sap to get a gallon of the good stuff. As a result, he burned some 15 cords more wood in his sugarhouse than usual, to produce his half-crop. (For perspective, those 15 extra cords could heat three well-insulated houses all winter.) Though he was personally discouraged, Ward admitted his sons have big plans. "The boys want to go to 10,000," he said. ‘Discouraged’ "I’m a little discouraged," echoed Braintree sugarmaker Jan Gray. He had made 700 gallons on 2500 taps, which is not a bad ratio (1-4 is considered normal). Like many others, he found that much of his syrup was dark. Also in Braintree, however, Jeff Vinton was more pleased with the season. Like several sugarmakers who have trees at high altitude, he found that that group of trees was producing well late in the season. Those 1800 taps were "running so hard that it’s almost making good for the others"—the 3000-tap sugarbush which had petered out by this week. In all, he had made 1320 gallons as of Monday and figured he would end up with 1500 to 1600. "I feel thankful," Vinton said, while admitting the sap quality had been low. His son Anthony does all the boiling—he’s just awesome," Jeff said. "I couldn’t do it without him." Randolph farmers Roger Palmer and David Silloway both reported a poor year, with lower volume and darker syrup. Mrs. Palmer reported that they have about a half crop from their approximately 3000 taps. Silloway said his 1800 taps have yielded about 250 gallons instead of 350, but that sap from two neighbors has added about 50 gallons to his yield. He personally avoided all the deep-snow tapping, he noted, thanks to his 20-year-old nephew Paul Lambert, who had college vacation at just the right time. Dale Howard, part of a family team that sugars on Thayer Brook Road, reported an "average" year, with 250 gallons of darker-than-usual syrup from their 1000 taps. 12 Days to Tap Out In nearby Brookfield, Justin Poulin has unpleasant memories of setting out his 2300 taps. It took two men 12 days instead of the usual two, he said. "Overall we’ve done real well," he said, with 680 gallons of syrup as of Tuesday. It is darker, though: last year 700 gallons were fancy grade; this year just 180. Poulin also cut back a bit this year, since a regular supplier, Alvin Hammond, decided not to tap his usual 600 trees this year. A couple of other long-time Randolph sugarmakers were out of business this year. Perry Hodgdon, who also did not sugar last year, thinks he is probably done sugaring the Mason/Dwinell sugarbush across the valley, thanks to his heart and back. "I had a wonderful run at it," he said. And Paul Webster, and the ripe age of 93, was counting on a couple of younger hands, who turned out not to be around this year. But he hopes to tap again next year. Maverick The valley’s biggest sugarmaker is Maverick, owned by Arthur Berndt in Sharon, with Blaine Moore in charge of operations. Moore was ecstatic Tuesday. After a bad year last year, his 19,000 taps (more or less) have produced 6100 gallons, and they were not finished yet, Blaine said. The syrup all season has been light amber grade, but the flavor right now is "the best we’ve made all year," he said. Some people who have experienced poor seasons tapped their trees too early, he thinks. "The holes got tired," he explained. Blaine admitted the sap had low sweetness this year. "My dad wouldn’t have even touched it," he commented. But for Maverick, with its filters and multiple osmosis machines, it wasn’t a problem. Other Good News Maverick wasn’t the only good report: Lee Conant in Randolph Center reported a "great" year with 68 gallons from 250 taps. Doug Densmore in Chelsea, whose woods runs up to 1750 feet in elevation, found himself producing "extra-fancy" syrup this year, and the rest of his 225 gallons so far have also been fancy. His 700 trees (just one tap per tree) are historically outstanding, usually producing a gallon of sap for every 2.5 buckets. Diane and Hale Mattoon in Chelsea also reported a good end-of year light run, bringing them over 100 gallons for 500 buckets. The weekend storm cost them a few trees in the sugarbush and a few buckets, also. Bill and Alan Ackerman on Holt Hill in Chelsea reporterd they’re done for the year, making very light syrup from their 122 taps. Andy Harper on West Hill dounsized to 50 buckets this year but found his syrup very light. Royalton In Royalton, the news was not so good. Agnes Spaulding reported their pipeline to 600 taps just didn’t run very well, though they ended with 114 gallons of syrup with "real good flavor." Dan Kinny on the Post Farm Road scalled down to 160 buckets and made close to 30 gallons. In Broad Brook, the Van Alstyne operation made just "a little tiny bit of fancy," said Mary Croft, who also happens to be the secretary and treasurer of the Vermont Sugarmakers’ Association. The group of farms puts out about 4500 taps, she said. Low sugar content may be the result of the recent tent caterpillar infestation, she said. The so-so year won’t affect the family’s attitude, she declared. "Once it gets in your blood, you can’t let it go." |
for larger version     |
||||
