Mount Pleasant Sugarworks

Beautiful weather

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 17:41:20 +0000

Today’s weather and the forcasted weather for the next few day is great, unless you are a maple syrup producer. Three or four days in the 70s will bring an early end to our sugaring season. The trees buds will expand and the trees matabolism changes making the syrup flavor undesirable. I’m sad to see the season end so soon but I am enjoying the warm sunshine. It’s almost time to get the motorcycle out.

Grade change

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:42:16 +0000

Each drum that is produced is recorded and a sample is taken. This photo shows the progression of syrup grades that have been made so far. These sample bottles are arranged chronologically. Our first sample is on the left and our last on the right.

Busy season

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 12:01:17 +0000

Things have been a little busy here at MPS. Yesterday started the biggest sap run of the season which is still running as I write this. Our production is now about 40% of last years. We boiled last night for a few hours to make sure our tanks didn’t overflow. We will try and get all the sap processed today.

No Snow

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:13:37 +0000

The last couple of days has been too cold for the sap to flow. We expected a few inches of snow but only got a dusting. Our next boil will probably be Saturday afternoon. Our sugarhouse is open to visitors when we are boiling so take a road trip. We would love to see you.

So far we’ve produced 15% of a crop and all of it fancy. Not bad for February. The sugar content of the sap has increased to above average for us.

First Boil

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:24:55 +0000

Our first boil this year was February 17. This is the earliest we have boiled in our 24 years of making maple syrup but only by two days. We have had three other years that were almost as early. So far we have made about 12% of a crop and all of it is nice flavored fancy. Even Donna, who normally prefers dark amber syrup admitted it is some of the nicest fancy she has tasted. The weather this week looks favorable for a couple of small sap runs. The big runs will occur later in March.

Valentine’s Day Dinner

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:53:19 +0000

Looking for a last minute idea for a special dinner? Try one of our favorite “special occasion” dinners.
Serves two gluttons, ie. Andy & Donna.

1/2 lb large sea scallops
1 lb bacon
1/4 cup Vermont dark amber or grade B syrup

wrap each scallop in one strip of bacon and hold in place with a wooden tooth pick.
Place on broiling pan and baste with syrup.
Broil until done. Turn scallops frequently and baste with each turn.
Serve with rice and your favorite vegetable.

Hope you enjoy this. Andy & Donna

A Beautiful Day

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:23:33 +0000

Yesterday was a perfect day to be in the woods. What a difference a year makes. Last year we had three feet of snow and were on snowshoes when we tapped, this year (you can see from the photos below) we have no snow (yet) and it is much easier. We got over 400 taps in today.

God’s creation is what provides us the sweet maple syrup but these two pictures show it also provides work to go along with it. The dead tree will be cut off the line today. It has caused no damage to the line. The first picture is porcupine damage to our pipeline. This will also get fixed today. We invade their home and they strike back. Animal damage from squirrels, coyotes, deer, bear and moose is a common problem sugarmakers in VT deal with.

Tank Wash

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:49:38 +0000

Earlier this week I took advantage of a warm day to wash out all our tanks in anticipation of the new sugaring season. To me and most other maple syrup producers, the excitement of the first sap flow is like Christmas morning to a child. At MPS we are getting all our sap lines and equipment ready. We will begin tapping our trees tomorrow.

The footbridge …

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 21:38:38 +0000

The footbridge accessing a section of our sugarbush has been put back in place after Irene moved it. My helper Nathan is crossing to work on repairs to the pipeline. We are getting the lines ready for winter snows.

Irene update

Andy and Donna Hutchison — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:08:41 +0000

At MPS we received very little damage. We had 4.6″ of rain which our recently installed drainage handled fine. A footbridge we installed at our High Pond sugarbush was washed down stream and will need to be rebuilt before winter. Most of the roads around the Champlain Valley are now open. If you are traveling east-west in VT your options are limited due to Rte 73, Rte 4, and Rte 125 still being repaired.

MPS is open for business. We look forward to seeing you.
Andy & Donna