# Maple Producers Trade Show



## sprucegum (Jan 26, 2014)

I spent yesterday at the maple (syrup) producers trade show. It was at a area HS they had several very informative classes going on every hour all day long. You just pick the ones you want to attend and walk into the class room and take a seat. I was able to attend classes on Syrup filtering, tapping for sustainable tree growth, sugar bush management, and birch syrup production. Saw a few old friends including two I had not seen in over 30 years.
They had a great dinner put on by the HS culinary arts program, maple glazed pork, mashed tatters, mac and cheese, carrots, green salad, and rolls. Also apple crisp with ice cream and maple syrup for dessert. I almost fell asleep in the after dinner class.
I think this is the last one for this year (they have several around the state) If you are a maple producer large or small these shows are a good value I think the all inclusive price was around $55 ( I preregistered back in the fall kinda forgot how much it was). Most of the classes are done by the UVM proctor maple research center and some top sugar makers. Of course the manufactures are all there to talk with. Oh almost forgot free coffee and pastries if you get there early.

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## barry richardson (Jan 26, 2014)

Sounds like a good time Dave. I never realized how big the Maple sugar thing was till I stumbled onto one of their forums when I was doing some info searches for vacuum pumps. Cant remember the name but it was a huge forum, they really got "down in the weeds" and technical about sap collecting, very geeky, glad were not like that here about wood


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## sprucegum (Jan 26, 2014)

barry richardson said:


> Sounds like a good time Dave. I never realized how big the Maple sugar thing was till I stumbled onto one of their forums when I was doing some info searches for vacuum pumps. Cant remember the name but it was a huge forum, they really got "down in the weeds" and technical about sap collecting, very geeky, glad were not like that here about wood


We try not to get too geeky with our little operation, it is more about having a little fun and making a little money in Vermont's fifth season MUD SEASON. The ground is still frozen down deep and all mud on top, the weather is starting to get nice but you really can't do much. Lots of people stop by the sugar house to help, watch, buy fresh syrup, and have a cold beer. Sometimes other sugar makers stop in to lie about how much they have made (something we would never do). We do use vacuum and pipeline to collect the sap but we still boil on a wood fired evaporator, my son is thinking pretty hard about purchasing a reverse osmosis machine to cut down on boiling time and wood consumption. I will post some pictures when we get going probably around the first of March.

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## Sprung (Jan 26, 2014)

sprucegum said:


> I will post some pictures when we get going probably around the first of March.



That would be awesome to see! Will be looking forward to that thread!


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