HUNTINGTON, Vt. -
Peter Purinton has been making maple syrup for 47 years. He produces close to 8,000 gallons a year. He has seen winters with feet of snow, and winters like this one, referred to as an open winter, meaning very little snow on the ground.
"Every year is unique. Very seldom they are average; they are either above or below average. It seems to work out, I guess," Purinton said. "The best benefit of it is it is going to be nice tapping trees this year, it's going to be a joy."
A joy because he and his son will not have to slog through deep snow to get to the trees.
But will lack of snow have an effect on the maple crop? Scientists at the Proctor Maple Research Center say the trees are well equipped no matter what the snow total.
"Sugar maples are well adapted to this climate. Their health is governed by a period of dormancy they establish at the end of fall. They store food from the previous growing season over the winter," said Mark Isselhardt of the Proctor Maple Research Center.
That material is the same sugar harvested in the spring.
Turns out what happens weatherwise before the maple season is not nearly as important as the weather when the sap starts flowing.
"The overall driving force for a good year is the weather during the sugaring season," Isselhardt said.
"A lot of it depends on the moisture once the trees are tapped, a lot of it depends on the weather once the trees are tapped, freezing and thawing, durations above freezing, but moisture is a strong ingredient in a good crop of syrup," Purinton said.
Purinton expects to begin putting in his 15,000 taps in the next week or so. And he still has not ruled out the possibility of a big winter storm or two in this month or next.
"The largest storms come in those two months," he said, "so we still have time."
A season that is just around the corner.
No matter what the weather, Purinton says he will not know what kind of a season it will be until it is over in the middle of April or early May.
