The 2009 season began in earnest last Friday. We had a small run in our southern Vermont sugarbush – enough to make the first syrup of the year. The beginning of the year is always the most exciting part. There’s a lot of energy, a lot of hope.
While a season can turn on a dime, things seem to be lining up pretty good for us. Next week looks like good sap weather, which comes right on cue. To have a good season in Bennington County, you need to make syrup every week in March. By April 1, you’ve generally lost the weather down there – in our bushes anyway.
Corinth, Vermont, where Northern Woodlands magazine is based, is still firmly locked in the grips of winter. It may as well be a different world. Sugarmakers in town should start boiling this weekend, but it’ll be a while before the trees are up and running. Trees don’t run well with cold feet, and there’s a lot of snow that has to disappear. None of this is out of the ordinary, though. In more northern regions, sugarmakers count on the season extending well into April.
If you’re from out of state and would like to visit a Vermont sugarhouse this spring, consider coming up on Maple Open House weekend (March 27-29). Sugarmakers across the state will be opening their doors to the public. The whole day is great fun – sort of a Vermont version of a California wine trail. You spend the day riding around visiting different sugarhouses; you get to see a bunch of different ways of doing things, and, most importantly, you get to taste fresh syrup in every imaginable form.
For more information visit www.vermontmaple.org. Hope to see you at the sugarhouse.