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Maple Syrup Near Brattleboro?
Authored by: Tad Montgomery on Thursday, March 25 2010 @ 10:25 PM GMT+4
The farmers market this Saturday at the River Garden.
Lilac Ridge Farm
Deer Ridge Farm
Robb Farm
Dwight Miller Orchards
The Coop's bulk fluids department
Authored by: Geedeepy on Thursday, March 25 2010 @ 10:29 PM GMT+4
Try the WINTER FARMERS MARKET this Saturday March 27, 2010. From 10 am to 3 pm at the River Garden, 157 Main Street, Brattleboro, VT.
You can get, not only locally produced maple syrup, but also, produce, fruits, eggs, meats and honey. Jellies, preserves, baked goods and more. Lunch to eat in or take out. Juried crafts and live music.
This is the last one for the season, ...so enjoy!!
Authored by: tiny on Thursday, March 25 2010 @ 10:51 PM GMT+4
When my kids ate pancakes/french toast, I use to get syrup @ the co-op.
I liked bringing it home in recycled plastic containers (non syrup
containers) and telling them I got it fresh from a tree!
Authored by: annikee on Thursday, March 25 2010 @ 11:33 PM GMT+4
If you're getting anything at the coop bring your own containers. They don't have them for free anymore, and you can't drop them off for others to reuse.
Authored by: annikee on Thursday, March 25 2010 @ 11:35 PM GMT+4
Trudy Matt, the vet in Marlboro, has always had really good syrup, too, for little money. And the guy at Basketbooks in the Harmony Lot is selling it, I hear.
Authored by: SJD on Thursday, March 25 2010 @ 11:51 PM GMT+4
You still get it in Alstead such as Clarks (Langdon), Bascoms http://www.bascommaple.com, or Dustin's. It's tough to find a sugar house below market value. Of course there is always Harlows in Putney or Stuart and John's in Westmoreland.
Authored by: cgrotke on Friday, March 26 2010 @ 01:02 PM GMT+4
If I have one big maple and add a single tap to it, could I get enough sap
to make a small amount of syrup at home? I know it takes many trees
to run a syrup business, but how much does a single tree produce?
Authored by: pjmelton on Friday, March 26 2010 @ 01:20 PM GMT+4
I would suggest consulting the Cornell Sugar Maple Research & Extension Progam's extensive FAQ section. Scroll down for the "Frequently Asked Questions for the Maple Forest Owner," and you will find that " Producers using gravity lines or buckets generally get 10-14 gallons of sap per forest-grown tree. Using buckets on roadside trees or using vacuum tubing yields 15-20 gallons per tap. A single tree can have one, two, or three taps, depending on size and health." I think you need about 50 gallons of sap for one gallon of syrup, so one tree might not be worth the labor. Even if it has three taps and you suck out 20 gallons per tap, you still only get about a gallon of syrup for your trouble under the most ideal circumstances.
Authored by: cgrotke on Friday, March 26 2010 @ 01:33 PM GMT+4
Thanks.
I'm not thinking about as much as a gallon. Just thinking about enough
to try the syrup making process with a tiny bit of success. Enough for one
pancake. : )
What I'd really like is an endless supply of maple sugar. It's great to
sprinkle on pie crusts and other baked treats.
Authored by: tiny on Friday, March 26 2010 @ 03:08 PM GMT+4
Your story made me laugh. I have a friend he moved to Maine to get
back to the land and all that. Very smart guy, amazing what he did on
his farm as far as being sustainable and self reliant, growing his own
food and what not. His biggest and only folly was maple syrup. He
constructed a very good system to collect sap from his maple grove.
When he went to boli it down,it took all day and all night and he ended
up with about a pint of syrup! His wife figured the pint cost over 500$.
if you tap one tree, you might get enough syrup to sweeten a few cups
of tea.
Authored by: DanAxtell on Saturday, March 27 2010 @ 03:56 AM GMT+4
Make syrup yourself and all syrup will taste better for the rest of your life. It's worth a try. From my mercifully-brief career sugarmaking 30 years ago (no one was killed), I can offer numerous pointers (and some some safety tips, like avoiding riveted jeans that leave pretty rivet-shaped burns from standing near the arch).
Real sugarmakers: please correct me as needed.
The billowing water vapor amazes you every March. Don't do this inside. Our houses are tighter than ever, safe from creeping cold or spreading fire, and the risk of mold and other damage isn't worth it. I tried this in college housing and it's one reason I give to the college's annual fund.
If you're doing one tap, pick a healthy tree with a big crown, usually a roadside tree that doesn't show stress from salt. Typically, such a tree gives 25-1 sap-to-syrup in early March, maybe better. Drill the tap on the south, warm side. If it's only one tap on a healthy tree, I would use the old rule of 3 inches. The new guidelines are less, but we're talking about a one-time experience, not sustainable agriculture. Pull the tap as soon as you're done to let it heal.
Drill the tap when the wood isn't frozen (a crack in the wood will divert the sap), so it's maybe just after work on a surprisingly warm day. For the first tiny runs, just drink the sap or sweeten your tea. Great stuff. If you're worried about bacteria or legends about boys peeing in sap buckets, just boil it briefly first. Not a problem. However, if you don't use it, dump it. Sap is the most important meal of the day, if you're a bacterium.
When you get a full 12-quart bucket, that'll give you a pint of syrup from this early-run, full-crown tree. Patience. Let it freeze overnight in the bucket. It was a clear day; it's probably a clear night and the sap will partially freeze. In the morning, throw out the ice. I took advanced-placement chemistry in a well-funded suburban school and this had to be explained to me. (Note: sugarers always collect the sap promptly and throw off the ice from the storage tank in the morning. In this case, the sap bucket is your storage tank.)
This is good use of the burner on your propane grill. Put those 10 quarts of sap in a stew pot and let it boil. Outside, you don't get the full effect of the sugarhouse aura, but it'll do. (This is not a cost savings, but a memorable experience.) This is also carbon-reckless, but it's a one-time experience, so it's not a sustainability issue.
The syrup is ready when it sheets. If you dip a metal pancake turner into the syrup and then hold it straight up and the syrup makes a triangular sheet as it drips off, you're done. Theoretically it's possible to do this with a candy thermometer, but such linear thinking is suboptimal and scientists, having a spiritual side, prefer to eat maple syrup rather than study it.
This early-run sap will give light syrup, with a flavor indescribable except, luckily, for "maple." Suburbanites like me grew up enjoying dark (usually thick and cold) syrup with its familiar, caramelized flavor--and we truly enjoyed it. Folks from away will always ask for the dark, late-season syrup with its familiar caramel taste. Speaking personally, it is a kindness to civilize these less-rural people gently, and I am grateful for this kindness. Caramel will always taste good, but maple is something different: hot and runny and subtle.
How hot? I invite you to listen to the title track of Banjo Dan's Fire in the Sugarhouse. Full disclosure: I maintain his website, but the only thing getting rich here is Vermont culture and a few taste buds.
Authored by: Amanda on Saturday, March 27 2010 @ 11:01 AM GMT+4
I guess I must be showing my true colors (having only lived here for a mere seven years). I love the dark stuff. My impression was that most city people pooh-poohed the dark in favor of the "extra fancy"...and that the "extra fancy" label was designed to make the light stuff seem more appealing to those who would otherwise be distracted by the superior flavor and depth of the dark.
I consider myself lucky this year - I was able to procure half a year's worth of extra-dark. Call me foreign if you want to, but it's what I like.
Authored by: Maus Anon E on Saturday, March 27 2010 @ 01:41 PM GMT+4
For something completely different, try making beer using maple sap as the water. I've done this, and the result was a very crisp beer with faint woody, earthy under tones. I simply used a recipe for an amber ale (I prefer darker beers, but I thought the maple flavors might get lost in a stout or porter). My notes are around here somewhere, but the ABV% was slightly higher than the same recipe using water. I assume that was because of the additional sugars in the sap. Make sure you use fresh sap, or you risk losing your batch to a bacterial infection.
You can also add maple syrup to your wort near the end of the boil (I suppose you could add it after the boild, but I like to be on the safe side) as both a flavoring and an adjunct - just as some people do with honey.
Authored by: Bri on Friday, March 26 2010 @ 01:11 PM GMT+4
This is the open house weekend for all the sugar houses too. You should be able to get it at all the participating sugar houses. I know that Sweet Maple Alpacas is having an open house this weekend. You can pet and feed the alpacas, buy maple syrup and also knitted items made with alpaca fibers. I really like this farm.
After clicking "Preview," I realized I should be more forthcoming in noting that the Point/Counterpoint link is really the Onion and it is satirical. And I realize that people in this diverse forum are sincere and may have valid, heartfelt reasons for believing that nuclear proliferation is better than maple syrup. The Maple Weekend link, however, is serious and involves seriously good smells.
Lilac Ridge Farm
Deer Ridge Farm
Robb Farm
Dwight Miller Orchards
The Coop's bulk fluids department