Don Bourdon, of Woodstock, has made maple syrup since he was a boy, but started his maple business in earnest in 1995, still using traditional techniques. Now he has 10,000 taps on vacuum powered lines, uses reverse osmosis to remove water and concentrate the sap before boiling over an oil fired arch, and sells his syrup in bulk to a national distributor. Bourdon says that in the last eight years, Vermont production of Maple syrup has roughly doubled, but sugar makers still depend on unpredictable and changing weather patterns in late winter and early spring. "I always say, I'll tell you in May what kind of a year we're going to have," said Bourdon in his sugar house in Woodstock, Vt., Thursday, March 2, 2017. "That's a more reliable anwer." (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Don Bourdon, of Woodstock, has made maple syrup since he was a boy, but started his maple business in earnest in 1995, still using traditional techniques. Now he has 10,000 taps on vacuum powered lines, uses reverse osmosis to remove water and concentrate the sap before boiling over an oil fired arch, and sells his syrup in bulk to a national distributor. Bourdon says that in the last eight years, Vermont production of Maple syrup has roughly doubled, but sugar makers still depend on unpredictable and changing weather patterns in late winter and early spring. "I always say, I'll tell you in May what kind of a year we're going to have," said Bourdon in his sugar house in Woodstock, Vt., Thursday, March 2, 2017. "That's a more reliable anwer." (Valley News - James M. Patterson) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

It will be a sweet weekend, at least for those who participate in any of a number of maple syrup celebrations set to take place throughout the Valley.

As the peak of the sugaring season hits, sugar makers will open their doors for sugar house tours, and community meals and events will serve up maple syrup in all of its forms.

Several Vermont sugar houses will be open for the weekend, including Elm Grove Farm on Cloudland Road in Pomfret; Sugarbush Farm on Sugarbush Farm Road in Woodstock; Bourdon Maple Farm on Bourdon Road in Woodstock; Eb Kinney Jr and Son Sugarmakers on Route 44 in Brownsville; Silloway Maple on Boudro Road in Randolph Center, and Limlaw Family Maple Farm on Route 25 in West Topsham.

For hours and more information, visit vermontmaple.org/openhouse.

Some New Hampshire sugar houses will also be open this weekend, including Sugar Bee Farm on Windy Hill Road in Claremont; Tomapo Farm on Storrs Hill Road in Lebanon; Daisy Hill Farm on Dunbar Hill Road in Grantham; Clark Camp Maple on Clark Camp Road in Cornish; Hillside Sugar Bush Farm on Hunt Drive in Cornish; Dunrovin on Elm Street in Claremont; Harding Hill Farm in Sunapee and Brackett Brook Farm on Pease Drive in Orford.

For hours, directions and more information, visit nhmapleproducers.com/directory/categories/march-25-26-maple-weekend.

In Bethel, there will be a Sugar on Snow and Roast Pork Dinner at the White Church on Main Street on Saturday at 5 p.m. The cost of $5 to $10 will benefit the Deacon’s Fund of the United Church of Bethel. For more information, call 802-234-9852.

In Hartford, the Greater Hartford United Church of Christ will host a Sugar-on-Snow Supper on Saturday with seatings at 5 and 6 p.m. The meal, which costs $15 for adults and $7 for children under 12, will include ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, rolls and sugar on snow with raised doughnuts and pickles. Reservations recommended, avonbugbee@yahoo.com or 802-295-2510.

More than 20 restaurants will showcase their maple specialties in this year’s Maple Taste-a-Round at the Suicide Six Ski Area in Pomfret on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets, $25 for adults and $10 for children 10 and under, are available online at woodstockvt.com/maple-madness. The event will include a cash bar, silent and live auctions of sap buckets painted by local artists, and live music. For more information, contact Kathy Avellino at info@woodstockvt.com or 802-457-3555.

King Arthur Flour in Norwich will host its 4th Annual Maple Daze on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities will include a pancake breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. to benefit VT FEED, a nonprofit that raises awareness around healthy food and good nutrition through its farm-to-school program. The benefit breakfast costs $5 for a stack of pancakes, an additional $2 for bacon and $1 for coffee or chocolate milk.

Samples of products made from maple syrup will be available from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Producers in attendance will include Vermont Maple Sriracha, Red Kite Candy and Burke Mountain Confectionery.

The Swing Peepers will perform from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Natasha Payton at natasha.payton@kingarthurflour.com or 802-649-3881 ext. 357.

Food Talks

Janet Taylor will give a free spring talk on gardening at the George Peabody Library in Post Mills tonight from 7 to 8:30.

Taylor will draw on her decades of experience running Crossroad Farm with her husband, Tim. Email her in advance with any special topics of interest at janet@crossroadfarm.com. For more information about the event, contact the library at librarians@thetfordlibrary.org or 802-785-4361.

Three-time James Beard Award winner Barry Estabrook will sign books and speak on the subject of “Social Justice and the Agriculture Industry” at the Vermont Law School in South Royalton on Tuesday. Estabrook is the author of Tomatoland, which explores how the drive for low-cost tomatoes has led to a reliance on more than 100 pesticides and fostered a modern-day slave trade, and Pig Tales: An Omnivore’s Quest for Sustainable Meat.

The book signing will take place at Barrister’s Bookstore from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. and the talk will take place in the Chase Community Center from 5:30 to 7. For more information about the free event, email AMoses@vermontlaw.edu.

A Wild Time in Meriden

A Wild Game Dinner, featuring moose, bear, elk and boar, will take place at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. The cost of the event is $18 for adults; $10 for children and $4 for children under 4. Call 603-469-3090 for more information.

Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com and 603-727-3213.

Valley News News & Engagement Editor Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.