Tapping into sugaring: Open house shows process of turning sap into liquid gold | Local News

MANCHESTER — Dutton Farm Stand welcomed visitors to a sugar shack to get a glimpse of the sugaring process and a taste of sweets.

“It’s really good to teach people who are interested in it,” said co-owner Wendy Dutton. “That’s why they are here. Some people come and take a quick tour, but there are a lot of people who are interested in how everything works, so it’s good to teach them where it comes from.

Dutton said the sugar shack is open to the public on weekends, so many people stop by outside of open house events. She even meets longtime Vermonters who haven’t been to a sugar shack.

Over time, sugar shack staff moved from manually collecting buckets of sap from each maple tree a few times a day to using hoses connected to two 1,800-gallon tanks on the property. They also switched from heating the sugar shack to oil-fired wood.

Vicky Burke, a longtime employee, said it was the first time in a year that Dutton had started boiling. They started on February 6.

With a limited amount of time to make the syrup, everyone is on deck. When the nighttime temperature catches up to daytime temperatures, Burke said, the sap stops flowing and the season is over.

Sap is 98% water, Burke said. The process involves boiling the water to obtain the syrup.

The Dutton family also manages farms in Newfane and Brattleboro. They will hold another open day at the sugar shack in Manchester next weekend.

Typically, Dutton makes about 1,000 gallons of maple syrup per year.

Vermont produces more than 50% of the maple syrup in the United States, more than any other state, according to the state. Last year, Vermont sugar makers produced a record 2.5 million gallons.

“All of that maple is processed at more than 3,000 sugar shacks across the state, from small family operations to industrial syrup producers, and ends up in cocktail infusions, dry rubs, hot sauces, candies and on the shelves in the form of syrup and sugar,” reads a page on vacationvermont.com. “The sugar-making process has evolved from buckets of sap hauled through the woods on a horse-drawn sleigh to today’s state-of-the-art reverse osmosis technology, and sugar makers in Vermont use a diverse blend in their operations.