Since
2012
OUR STORY
We are a 2,500-tap organic maple sugaring operation located on the western slope of Elmore Mountain in Lamoille County, Vermont. In 2012, we were awarded a 15-year contract to sugar in Elmore Mountain State Park. Since then, we have been making some of the best maple syrup in Vermont and loving every minute of it.
Responsibly Sourced
We are invested in the health of the trees in our sugarbush. We sugar in the Vermont State Forest, where we follow best forestry practices according to a management plan that puts ecosystem health first.
It takes the Sugar Maple more than 40 years to grow 12 inches in diameter. We never tap trees under this size, use only one tap per tree, and always remove taps at the end of the season so the holes can heal. Trees that have been tapped respectfully will yield sap all their lives, sometimes for as long as 200 years.
We are careful to remove only the trees that damage our lines, leaving fallen and standing deadwood as habitat for birds, porcupines, and other animals that rely on tree health for their survival.
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Real Vermont Maple Syrup
The tradition of maple sugaring has been traced back to Indigenous peoples in North America, who recognized the sap as a source of nutrition and energy. Two hundred years ago, Vermont settlers began making maple sap into sugar because it stored well. Now, the tradition of boiling sap into syrup is kept alive by sugaring operations large and small throughout the state of Vermont.
While there are sugarers in other states like Maine, Minnesota, and even Ohio, Vermonters make the most maple syrup in the United States and are very proud of the 'Vermont Maple' flavor of their syrup- the result of unique microclimate, soil conditions, and precipitation patterns in Vermont sugarbushes.
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Made in Small Batches
We tap in February, while temperatures remain below freezing, by drilling a small hole in the trees' trunks and inserting a spout.
When freezing nights and warm days cause sap to flow from the maple trees, our tubing system carries sap from the taps to collection tanks located in the sugarbush.
In our sugarhouse, it takes nearly 50 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup. We pump our sap under high pressure through a dense membrane filter, a process called reverse osmosis, in order to remove 90% of the water and increase sugar content from 2% to between 10-15%. We then boil this concentrated sap to yield 66% sugar, or as you know it: 100% pure Vermont maple syrup!