Local Maple Business Preps for Maple Open House

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Created on Friday, 23 March 2018 00:02

Written by Chelsi Byrnes

ST. JOHNSBURY - Maple producers in the state of Vermont are getting prepared for the 25th annual Maple Open House weekend which celebrates the sugaring season. Jeff Goodwin of Goodwin Family Maple in St. Johnsbury explained the process of how he makes his maple products, the tools they use to make the products, and some history of how maple gathering all started.

In the 1800's, people would use a wooden paddle to place on their shoulders and they would have a pail on each side filled with sap. Nowadays, people fill trucks up with sap and drive it to a sugarer like Goodwin Family Maple.

"Basically we drill a hole in the tree. [The] Maple tree it gives us sap. So you need cold nights and warm days to have the sap flow, and our sugar-bushes are off site, so we have to truck it in, and then we have to boil the water out of it. It takes about forty to forty five gallons of sap to make about one gallon of syrup, so we have to evaporate the water. We do that, and then we put it in the evaporator," said Goodwin.

Goodwin explained how his business has gone through four different generations. He moved his business to its current location in 2012 when his father hadn't been doing well. He continues to keep the family business running. He is very grateful for his family because he wouldn't be able to run the forty-six year old business without them.

"When I was younger I used to love being out in the woods to receive the maple with my dad," said Goodwin.

Goodwin makes many maple products out of the maple when it is done evaporating including maple cream, maple sugar, maple doughnuts, maple syrup, maple candies and maple cotton candy.

"Maple syrup is a natural product. We add nothing artificial to it, and you know as scientists study syrup we're finding that it has a lot of health benefits too. Yes it's sugar, but it's full of antioxidants and you know there's a lot of goodness in it. And it is absolutely the most healthy of all the sugars that are available," said Goodwin.

Other places in the Northeast Kingdom, that are participating in the Maple Open House weekend are Happy Hills Maple Farms LLC in Lyndonville, and McDonald Farm Maple in Danville.