Episode 19: Sweetest Joys Indeed
The sap’s running!
Happy sugaring season from the VFC.
VT Untapped™ is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn and Spotify
“When you see the vapor pillar link the forest and the sky;
Then you’ll know the sugar-making season’s drawing nigh”
Sweet as syrup
Sugaring is a central part of life in Vermont. Anthropologist Marge Bruchac tells us that the Abenaki people, the indigenous group native to Vermont, called the fourth new moon of the year the “maple sugar-making moon.” The Abenaki were the first people in the place we now call Vermont to boil down sap and make syrup, and they taught European settlers this practice—one unique to North America.
Today in Vermont sugaring is an important economic activity and a seasonal milestone that marks the transition from winter to spring—not to mention it’s how we create our best known, homegrown, sweet treat. Along with syrup, candy and other maple products, the seasonal pastime of visiting the sugar house is a classic ‘Vermont’ activity for tourists and locals alike. It’s no surprise then that there are songs about sugaring or even that the Vermont Folklife Center might make reference to the activity in the name of its own podcast, VT Untapped! In our case we’re not tapping trees, but our archive, which contains thousands of interviews with Vermonters talking about their everyday lives and experiences. This episode brings you a seasonal selection of audio excerpts from our collection that reflect the sugaring tradition and its prominence in Vermont life across generations.
Further reading and listening
Sheet music for Maple Sweet in Eloise Hubbard Linscott’s Folk Songs of Old New England, 1939
Here are some things to check out if you want a deeper dive into the people and topics mentioned in this episode:
“Measuring Seasons and Counting Moons in Abenaki” - Marge Bruchac, Professor of Anthropology at University of Pennsylvania created this appendix, which mentions the “maple sugar-making moon,” to accompany her children’s book, Malin’s Song.
Maple Sweet - browse our collection of Vermont musicians performing this springtime classic:
2017 - Megan and Dan MacArthur
2018 - Deb Flanders
2020 - Pete Sutherland
2021 - Maeve Fairfax
Hear more from Katharine Flint DuClos, who tells the story about sugaring with oxen.
Did you know that in 2014 VFC teamed up with Fiddlehead Brewing in Shelburne to brew a batch of Sap Beer!?! It was delicious!
Dans l’temps des sucres - Hear the full recording in our digital archive, including a transcription of the lyrics (in French).
Learn more about Franco-American cultural advocate Martha Pellerin, who recorded Alberta Gagné singing Dans l’temps des sucres, in this early episode of VT Untapped.
Interviews and recordings from this episode:
Wallace Illsley, Katharine Flint DuClos, John Messier and others were interviewed in the late 80s-early 90s by Gregory Sharrow as part of his work on the VFC-produced radio series Never Done: Farm Life in Vermont.
Edgar Dodge was interviewed by Gregory Sharrow in Tunbridge, VT on September 20, 1992
Kenn Hastings was interviewed by Brent Bjorkman in Bridport, VT on March 2, 2009
Alberta Gagné was interviewed by Martha Pellerin in Highgate Center, VT on October 4, 1995
Recordings of Maple Sweet
Margaret MacArthur - from her 1982 album, An Almanac of New England Farm Songs (Green Linnet Records)
Maeve McCurdy - self-recorded in February 2021
Pete Sutherland - self-recorded in February 2020
To access the full recordings please contact the VFC Archivist.
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The views and opinions expressed by participants of this project are their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Vermont Folklife Center.
This episode of VT Untapped has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts: Democracy demands wisdom.
