The Boutilier SugarHouse

The 2007 Sugaring Season at our farm in Vermont was affected by erratic
weather. When I arrived, Vermont was still digging out from a blizzard that had come a week before. The snow was deep and I had to ask our neighbor to
plow out a road to the Sugarbush so I could get up to it to tap the trees.

Two days later the temperature was soaring into the 50's and the sap was running. I did a small boil, and anticipated a large haul the following day.
That next morning I woke up to a major snow storm, and temperatures plunging to 10 degrees F.

The sap flow came to a halt and nothing happened for several days.
The snow was deep again, and there was no way I could ask my neighbor to plow again. I decided to use the front bumper of my 4-wheel drive as a plow and see what happend. Luckily the snow was fluffy and dry enough so that
the experiment was a success.

A few days later the next thaw came, and this time the temperature jumped to the 60's. I drove up to check the buckets and the sap was really flowing.
That run which lasted two days, was the largest I have ever seen in our Sugarbush. I boiled it all off, and unfortanately had to pack everything up
and leave for home as my two weeks had run out. All and all it was an interesting season, the quantity I brought back to NC was small, but the quality was some of the best!
-Alan

Minding the Boiler (Hard work eh?)

Cleaning up..