Maple syrup has long been the symbol of the Vermont lifestyle
representing the old ways of a unique culture. The tradition of tapping
maple trees and boiling the sap down into syrup has been supported and
continued generation after generation. The maple tree has even become
the state tree.
Maple syrup was first reported to have been
produced by Native Americans who lived in North America. Notches would
be cut into the trunks of maple trees, the sap run out and be put into
a pot of some sort. They would then heat rocks in a fire before
dropping them into the pot of sap, every time a little more water would
evaporate. This slow process of evaporating took around two weeks of
repetition before a product resembling what we now think of as maple
syrup today was formed.
The video finishes the history of
collecting sap, bring it up to some of the present day techniques,
while providing a few facts about the product that brings around two
million dollars into Vermont every year.
VT Maple Syrup (video)