WEATHER: Today read like the final, summarizing paragraph of a March weather essay; the theme was “See how erratic the battle between sun and frost can be.” The day began with a frosty temp of 20 degrees. Morning sun quickly dispelled the chill…then clouds dampened the mood…then it snowed hard and is still snowing…then by… Read More
Twice Roasted Carrots
Regardless the time of day a neighbor or friend walks into the sugarhouse and sets down a loaf of bread, a bag of chips, or a quiche, the crew circles at once to snack and snack again. On Tuesday mid-afternoon the surprise snack was a bowl of multi-colored carrots. EEFFSHH, they were gone. We dine… Read More
The Light Show
QUICK UPDATE: The week ahead looks promising for sap runs. We boiled on Saturday the 18th. Today seems like a classic sugaring day – fair skies, a nippy wind, a temp of 40 mid-day to be followed by a night in the low 20’s – but the sap is only jogging, I won’t venture an… Read More
The More it Snows
The more it snows the higher the reading at the stake on Mt. Mansfield. It’s now at 86″ which is respectable for this date. The snow depth at the stake has been measured since 1954. Its elevation is 3900′. The more it snows the less space there is for Mike to plow the snow off… Read More
Back to Basics — It’s Just Bread… and Butter
It’s a delight to welcome Food Correspondent Maple Trout Lilli back for the 2023 sugar season on this morning when sky and earth merge in the thick white of falling snow – the kind “that stays on my nose and eyelashes” – and it feels just right to stay at home and bake bread, venturing… Read More
On the Cusp of a Sap Run
WEATHER, March 11th: As ever with sugar season the story is the weather. Yesterday sure felt like a sugaring day: it felt like picnic weather in the sun, snowbanks by the road receded before my eyes, and mud squished around my rubber boots on the lower section of Falls Brook Lane. But it just wasn’t… Read More
Early March Mailbag
Dear Reader, Winter finally arrived: the cold and snow buttoned up the trees, silenced the pump in the sap shed, and hastened the crew back to hearth and home. It’s time to reach into the long-neglected mailbag and pull out your questions, comments, and photos. I’ll try to get to as many of your inquiries… Read More
Earliest First Boil: February 16th
WEATHER: For 48 hours from Wednesday morning to Friday morning (2/15-2/17) the temps stayed above freezing, in the high 30’s to mid 40’s. During Friday the temp plummeted to the teens. New snow thickened the sky but didn’t amount to much. Saturday (2/18) remains below freezing. A thaw is forecasted for Sunday afternoon. HOW’S IT… Read More
Tapped by Valentine’s Day and None Too Soon
Up in the woods tapping maple trees on a recent sunny day, crew member and resident folklorist Lawrence Lackey happened to glance uphill and could scarcely believe his eyes. Why, it was the phantom tapper! LL (as he is known in these parts) later sang to the crew what he recalls of The Ballad of… Read More
The Christmas 2022 Wind Storm
Chief of Operations writes: Death of Innocence I’ve owned a 120-acre woodlot for almost 50 years. This spring I will have sugared this hillside of Vermont for 44 years. Like anything else in the natural world, this woodland is by no means a static entity. Some of the changes have suited my needs and others… Read More
The Nebraska Knoll Blog 