Shelburne, Vermont – The sweetest event in the Green Mountain State is taking place this weekend. The Maple Open House Weekend is a time-honored tradition in Vermont, which is renowned for producing the best maple syrup in the United States.

This event showcases the unique culture and traditions of Vermont, celebrating the history and community that surrounds maple sugaring.

“Vermont is the leading producer of maple in the United States and second in the world,” said Dave Palmer, owner of Palmer’s Sugarhouse. Late March is peak time for sugaring, and Palmer’s Sugarhouse is on the front lines of the operation, showing visitors how they collect sap from the trees.

“What happens is you come out and you drill a hole in a tree, you put a spout in the tree and hook a line to it. This is a pipeline system behind you here that we use for doing that. At the end of the pipeline system is a vacuum that suctions the sap when it falls out of the tree,” explained Palmer.

Temperature plays a crucial role in producing high-quality sap. “You have to be below freezing at night. The trees have to freeze up and then during the day it’s got to be above freezing in order for it to thaw and for the sap to flow out. We had a great week this week of super successful week of sap flowing,” added Palmer.

When it comes to getting different colors and flavors of syrup, timing is everything. “In the beginning of the season, it typically starts with a light syrup and graded as a golden delicate, and towards the end of the season, you’ll end up with a very dark syrup,” said Palmer.

For Palmer’s Sugarhouse, sugaring is a family tradition that goes way back. We visited the original sugarhouse that the family used dating back to the 1940’s. “This is the original sugarhouse my grandmother started working out of back in the forties. She used to walk up here, through the snow, in the middle of the night and start boiling syrup. She’d bring my father with her as an infant and set him on the side while the sap was being boiled and turned into maple syrup,” shared Palmer.

The Maple Open House Weekend is not just about syrup, it’s about the community and traditions that surround it. Visitors can enjoy a blueberry pancake breakfast at 9 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a maple barbecue pulled pork lunch at noon, and maple creme and maple sugar throughout the day at Palmer’s Sugarhouse. There will also be live music, horse wagon rides, and barn animals for the kids. The fun will run until 5 p.m. in the evening.

Dozens of sugarhouses across the state will open their doors on March 25 & 26, April 1 & 2. You can find a full list at vermontmaple.org/mohw.