The sweet life

The sweetest weekend in Vermont is on tap with the 10th Annual Maple Open House Weekend. Willis and Tina Wood from Wood’s Cider Mill in Springfield have been sugaring for more than 40 years and have been part of the Maple Open House Weekend since it began.   VIDEO (0:56)


http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110317/FEATURES17/703179998

Published March 17, 2011 in the Rutland Herald
The sweet life

By Lucia Suarez
STAFF WRITER

The sweetest weekend in Vermont is on tap with the 10th Annual Maple Open House Weekend. More than 100 maple producers from across the state are opening their sugarhouses to visitors for the “harvesting” of Vermont’s first crop on Saturday and Sunday.

There are approximately 2,000 maple syrup producers in Vermont, making it the largest state of maple producing in the United States.

“Even though we live in Vermont, not everyone has visited a sugar house,” said Catherine Stevens of the Vermont Maple Foundation. “If you spend anytime with a maple producer, you see the passion behind it.”

At the Robb Family Farm in Brattleboro, sugaring has been going on since the early 1900s. Every year, they open their doors to visitors wanting to know about maple production.

“It’s rewarding to show people what we do,” said Helen Robb. “Our motto here at the farm is, ‘Where education and adventure meet.’”

Visitors will be able to ride tractors collecting sap and taste many maple treats including maple-coated nuts.

“They are good,” Helen Robb said.

Willis and Tina Wood from Wood’s Cider Mill in Springfield have been sugaring for more than 40 years and have been part of the Maple Open House Weekend since it began.

“It’s such a mixture of people that come,” Tina Wood said. “It’s our neighbors and people from Connecticut and New York who are surprised about the work it takes.”

During the weekend, the Woods will be tapping and boiling sap, serving maple treats and offering their one-of-a-kind maple sap coffee.

“It’s my own invention,” Tina Wood said. “I substitute the water with sap and it gives it a little maple flavor.”

Maple producers like to have people visiting the sugarhouses, to see what sugaring is all about and the open house weekend is like the official invitation, Stevens said.

“It’s a free event,” she said. “It’s just a fun Vermont event.”

At the same time, some communities will also hold their own maple festivals. In the towns of Poultney and Whitingham, events throughout the weekend include maple pancake breakfasts, wagon and sleigh rides and a lot of maple.

“It’s a community event,” said Pam Mikkelsen of Poutlney. “We are trying to figure out ways to count (how many people attend).”

Merck Forrest & Farmland Center in Rupert will also be hosting its annual maple festival.

For a complete and up-to-date list of sugarhouses open this weekend, visit www.vermontmaple.org. A Ski-and-Maple map has also been printed and can be found at any Vermont Welcome Center.

“(The weather) should be good for the weekend,” Tina Wood said.