More than one use for a maple bucket!

Maple Sugar Season starts as soon as the temperatures rise above freezing during the day and dip below freezing at night in February and March in northern Vermont. 

If you are in Vermont when Maple Syrup is being produced do stop at a Sugar Shack to observe the boiling.
Sugar-on-Snow* is a treat not to be missed.  However everyday is a great day to buy Maple Syrup, candies, sugars and yes Maple Syrup pies.

Vermont Maple Syrup is nature's healthful sweetener.  It adds a delicately delicious flavor to your favorite recipes.

• Use Vermont Maple Syrup on pancakes, waffles, and French toast.
• Pour over vanilla ice cream and plain yogurt. Use as a substitute for sugar in baking.
• Add maple syrup as a sweetener for coffee or tea.
• Make maple candy or sugar- on- snow. 
• Use as a flavoring in cakes, pies, or pastries.
• Glaze maple syrup over meats such as ham, chicken, or pork.
• Use Vermont Maple Syrup on grapefruit, hot cereals, and granola.

Tips for buying Vermont Maple Syrup! "Vermont Gold"

Maple syrup grades vary depending on the tree and the time of season the syrup is tapped.  The sap collected early in the season generally produces a Grade A Fancy Syrup - the lightest shade and most delicate flavored Vermont Maple Syrup.  Sap gathered later in the season tends to produce a heartier Grade B Maple Syrup.

Vermont Fancy, U.S. Grade A Light Amber Maple Syrup:  This light amber colored syrup has a delicate maple bouquet and a delightfully mild maple flavor.  Popular served over vanilla ice cream, in tea, or in any manner that complements its subtle maple flavor.

Vermont Grade A Medium Amber Maple Syrup:  This medium amber colored syrup with a pronounced maple bouquet and a characteristic maple flavor is most often used on pancakes, waffles, and as an all-around table syrup.

Vermont Grade A Dark Amber Maple Syrup:  A dark amber color with a robust maple bouquet and hearty maple flavor.  Most often used to accompany breakfast entrees and as an all-around table syrup.

Vermont Grade B Maple Syrup:  The strongest and darkest table grade syrup that is preferred by many for its pronounced maple flavor.  The most common grade used in cooking and to add flavor to processed foods.

• Maple Syrup is a 100 % natural and organic product. To make maple syrup, water is removed from the sap, but nothing is added. Maple Syrup has the same calcium content as whole milk.

• Maple Syrup has only 40 calories per tablespoon, unlike corn syrup which has 60 calories per tablespoon.
• Maple Syrup is rich in minerals such as calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron.
• Maple Syrup is good for you!  Vitamins B2, B5, B6, niacin, biotin, and folic acid are present in Maple Syrup.
• Maple Syrup even contains trace amounts amino acids - the building blocks of protein!
• Several types of maples are native to New England, but the sugar maple (also called rock maple or hard maple) and the black maple are considered the best types for maple sugaring.
• Only a few places in the world have the right climate for sugar maples: New England, upstate New York, Michigan, the Maritime provinces, and southern Quebec and Ontario.
• Vermont produces more maple syrup than any other state.
• The flavor of maple syrup, like that of other natural products, can vary from region to region and even from year to year.
• Usually maple trees are not tapped until they are at least 40 years old and 10-12 inches in diameter. As the tree's diameter increases, more taps can be added (up to a maximum of four taps).
• When done properly, tapping does no permanent damage to the tree. Some maple trees have been tapped for over a hundred years!
• Each tap will yield an average of 10 gallons of sap per season, producing about one quart of maple syrup. Or, to put it another way, it takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup.
  
• Maple syrup and maple sugar are 100% fat free.
• The sugar content of sap averages 2.5 percent; the sugar content of maple syrup is at least 66 percent.
• Real maple syrup contains no preservatives. Opened containers of maple syrup should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer.
• Maple syrup won't actually freeze.