I grew up in the Green Mountain State, in the hills of Northern Vermont. I was born in Lancaster County, PA, but my father loved the Green Mountains, as well as the down-to-earth living of the Northern New England States. When I was 11, we packed up and moved north, half an hour north of Stowe, VT, and 40 minutes south of the Quebec border.
*Vermont is a beautiful state...1 out of every 4 trees is a Sugar Maple. Sugar Maple leaves often turn a red or orange in the Autumn, creating a Gorgeous Autumn Scenery...tourists from all over the world come to see Vermont's Fall Foliage!
I am the oldest of 7 children.
When my 4 brothers grew into their teens, they began to discover how to make Maple Syrup. In the early spring, they bore little round holes into Sugar Maple Trees, inserted a tap, and set a bucket underneath. In the mornings as the temperature climbed to above freezing, the sap would begin its daily climb up the tree, and run from the tap into the bucket. In the evening as the temperature descended back under the freezing point, the sap would be drawn back down the tree and into the roots again. This process continues until the weather no longer goes below freezing.
*Today, this is the most popular way G & W Maple sells Maple Syrup.
Often in Northern Vermont, there is a late snowfall in the spring, and this can be a "Sugar Snow"...it drives the sap down into the roots again for a longer sap run.
The first sap of the season is usually lighter in color, a fancy grade. It doesn't have as many minerals in it as the sap does later in the season...the more the sap travels up and down in the tree collecting minerals, the darker the shade of syrup, and the stronger the Maple Flavor is.
My brothers would collect the day's sap run, and boil it down. The water in the sap would evaporate as it boiled, and eventually, the liquid in the stockpot become delicious Maple Syrup. It takes between 40-50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup. Some years, the sugar content is more concentrated, like this past Spring, and you need only 30 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.
So much of the quantity and quality of the syrup depends on the weather.
*Eldon & Garrett are keeping a close eye on the temperature. Maple Sap can become flammable very easily if it overheats, and many a sugar shack has gone up in flames because of this.
Sometimes, my Mom good-naturedly allowed my brothers to use her kitchen, but more often, they used a propane burner on the back porch. It kept my brothers busy, but just as importantly, kept Maple Syrup in my Mom's pantry. My brothers canned the Maple Syrup, and it lasted as long as we didn't eat it!!! We savored Maple Syrup on anything and everything, and it became a favorite household staple.
*The Sugar Shack is billowing with steam as the sap is boiled down into syrup.
My second bother, Nevin, eventually moved to a property that had a shed that was easily converted to a Maple Sugar Shack. Nevin's Brother-in-Law, Lamar Graham, decided to purchase more land with an abundance of Sugar Maples. Nevin & Lamar went into business together, and today, they co-own G & W Maple.
Maple Sugar is a little tricky to make...but Nevin did the research and conquered it. When he had perfected that, he tackled the technical art of Maple Cream. Then, he began to design his own Maple Seasonings as well. To see how it's all done, listen to this YouTube video on the Click Me Button!!
This past year, Nevin entered his Maple Syrup into a Contest at the Vermont Maple Festival. Many other Maple Producers were there as well. We are so excited to announce that G & W's Maple Syrup won 3rd Place!!!!
Today, three of my brothers work together...if you have tasted the Maple Candy that we had as a reward for purchase awhile ago, that was made by Edwin. And Eldon is the one who helps a lot with the boiling process: in fact, he is the one in the picture above, with my nephew Garrett (Nevin's oldest son) at his side. Both Edwin and Eldon and their wives enjoy doing experiments and taking photos for the website and for advertising purposes.
My oldest brother, Nelson, is ordained a minister and has a lot on his plate, and is not involved in the Maple Business anymore: nevertheless he, as well as we three sisters, Glenda, Gloria, & Gladys, are never very far from the Maple Syrup Bottle!!!!
*This is our latest family photo taken last summer when my youngest brother Eldon got married. We added three family members since: Gloria & Leroy have welcomed Baby Shauna Faith, Nevin & Jeanette welcomed Baby Kobi Jackson, & Edwin & Kim welcomed Baby Kinzey Noel.
As many of you know, I am a single parent, and earn my living through Princess House. One day, my brother wondered if my Princess House Clients would enjoy Maple Syrup on their pancakes! I was sure they would, at least some of them, and so I was roped into doing a few ads now and again. I personally love the Kits that they sell that offer a wonderful Variety of Maple Goodness!!
Want Maple 🍁 Products in your Pantry? Click on the button below to take you to the G & W Maple Website.
There is also a blog post I wrote on how to use the Maple Seasonings for Grilling, if you want to learn how to do that. It also shows the differences between the different flavors. Click here to read that:
And, as always, treat those you love, Sweetly!
Love, Glenda
We love this maple syrup! We use it as a sweetener for cookies and waffles ect. The maple cream is amazing. Take a block of cream cheese and maple cream and blend it together and use for a fruit dip. Delicious! I would like to try the maple sugar and spices. I’m sold on the products!
This maple syrup is the BEST! We love it on our pancakes & waffles. The Maple Rub makes delicious roasts. And the Maple Brown Sugar is soooo good sprinkled on Baked Oatmeal! Thanks G & W Maple for all your AMAZING Products!
These maple products are top notch! Haven’t tried everything … but the flavor is delightful!! You won’t go wrong in purchasing these healthier products!
We love maple syrup. As we age and learn, we’ve found sugar isn’t so friendly on our bodies and weve come to depend on maple syrup more, substituting it in place of sugar for those things we love. It is good on sweet potatoes baked in oven with salt n butter or coconut oil., in homade ice cream totally substituting it in place of sugar, on our pancakes, in sloppy joes in place of sugar. Awe, and if you like coffee it’s a winner in hot coffee or iced. We‘ve tried the maple cream and love that on toast 😋 We‘d like to try the Maple
Bar-B-Que rub, sometime. We wouldn’t hardly want to be without maple syrup in ou…
Hi! I am Gladys, Nevin's sister who is next older in age of our family. Nevin and I played together as children and were best friends as we became teenagers. I grew up all my life having Maple syrup on pancakes, waffles, ice cream, and yogurt. Then I moved to Illinois when I got married and suddenly I no longer had my favorite syrup. I missed it and when we go back to my old home we usually try to bring maple syrup along to Illinois with us. The maple seasonings and the maple cream is 👌. I'm so thankful my brother is willing to put all this hard work into making our lives sweeter!