A sure sign of spring in Vermont is the steam rising from the sugarhouses.
We are lucky enough to have several sugarhouses within walking distance of our home! There is nothing better than pure Vermont maple syrup and once you taste it it is hard to go back to a commercial brand.
Maple syrup is syrup usually made from the sap of the sugar maple. In cold climates, such as Vermont, maple trees store their starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple trees can be tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap, which is then processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. It takes roughly 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.
Indigenous peoples living in northeastern North America were the first groups known to have produced maple syrup and maple sugar and folks have been enjoying it ever since!
Originally the taps were set in the trees and buckets were used to collect the sap. Now you are more apt to see plastic tubing running from tree to tree down into a collection tank.
Despite the newer techniques to streamline the sap boiling method it is pretty much unchanged from the early days. Sap is collected and boiled down to obtain pure syrup without chemical agents or preservatives.
If you’ve never seen the process before, take a trip to Vermont in February or March and observe a sugarhouse in action. Take home some real maple syrup; nothing tastes better on those homemade waffles!
Nancy on the Home Front 
Love , love , love Maple Syrup ! ……it is so expensive to buy here in the U.K though ! Wonderful to see your photos .
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Daisy,
I imagine it must be very expensive if they have to import it! 😦
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Hi,
I just got one bottle of maple syrup from my 3 maple trees. Here in kitchener the season is over. It started early february which I was not aware. Because it is in early march elsewhere people were taking in february,
thanks I like the ideas of put your tubing type of collection of maple.
almas.
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Alma,
That’s great that you got your own syrup from your own trees!
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this would be so neat to see and i bet that syrup is better than what i get at kroger! those waffles look pretty yummy too!
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Tanya,
Once you try pure maple syrup there is no going back!
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Brilliant post Nancy and so informative…we are fortunate to be able to buy pure maple syrup here in Australia at reasonable cost but it comes from Canada…If I am ever fortunate enough to visit over there, I will seek out some Vermont Maple Syrup….promise! Thank you for sharing at Fun Friday Favourites.
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Cath,
That is so interesting that you can buy maple syrup from Canada where you are! As long as it’s pure maple syrup it doesn’t matter where it comes from!
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This post brought back memories of growing up in Ontario, Nancy and I’m so glad you shared it. (They make a lot of maple syrup there too and used to visit the sugarhouses when I was a kid.) A lot of folks don’t realise how maple syrup is made – or how much better it is for you than synthetic ‘pancake syrup’. Pinned! Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Hearth and Soul Hop.
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April,
There is nothing better than pure maple syrup not matter where it is made!
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Fascinating! Thanks for sharing your lovely photos with us. (I found you at the Healthy Living Link Party.)
Blessings, Leigh
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Leigh, Thanks for stopping by, I think maple sugaring is so fascinating with a perfect product!
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