I could not tell you when I became a syrup snob but it was at a very early age.
Unlike most of my memories and habits coming from time on boats the syrup thing started in the winter. That’s when my dad would make us pancakes on Sunday morning, often at a place he’d rent in Vermont. I blame him for the introduction and Daniel and Karen Fortin for making it easy for me to share my love of Real Vermont Maple Syrup.
In the summer of 2004 the US National Enduro Championships were held at a farm in Swanton, Vermont. Swanton is tucked way up north near the Canadian border, just a bit southwest of Highgate Springs. The orgainzers posted flyers all over and encouraged spectators to attend with the promise of free camping. I packed up my bike, met up with a few friends and we headed 300 miles north to Swanton.
Upon arrival we were directed to the free camping. This was a freshly mowed cornfield with most of the mowed areas occupied by trucks, trailers and EZ ups. The farmer, Daniel Fortin was there to greet us. He looked at us and we looked at the field. We both agreed that it would not work for us to camp on the stalks so he directed us up the road to the hay barn. He did caution us that the first milking was at 04:30 and the cows liked classic rock.
Daniel Fortin. Fifth Generation farmer. Carman Brook Farm Swanton Vermont.
We went up to the hay barn and settled in. We had a lovely evening and enjoyed a visit from Dan who enjoyed our beer and bourbon. We were enjoying his company when his amazing “farmers sense” kicked in and he stood up and said he had to go. 30 seconds later we met his wife Karen who was wondering where her husband was. We pleaded the fifth and she went to find her errant husband. We stayed up and enjoyed a wonderful evening under the stars.
04:30 came way too soon. It felt like someone threw on a 440 volt power feed to the barn. Lights, cows and Southern Rock. Loud. We staggered out of the hay barn to see what life was like on the farm at an hour that was long before us city folks were even considering going to the gym. Did you know that here in the United States 2% of the population produce all the food for the other 98%? Every day, twice a day the cows get milked. Holidays, birthdays and even when you’re hosting a National Trails Championship with strangers in the barn, the cows get milked. Fed too; the average diary cow will consume 35 gallons of water and up to 100 lbs of food per day while producing 80 lbs of milk and 90 lbs of waste. It’s no wonder he never has much time to go for a ride.
Farmer Dan. One of the two percenters.
It’s not a barn without a cat. The cat keeps the barn mouse free and does a little quality control sampling of the milk.
Soon we were joined by Daniels wife Karen. In addition to keeping Daniel fueled, raising four boys, breeding dachshunds and doing all the things necessary to help keep the farm going she also produces Real Vermont Maple Syrup.
Karen Fortin
If she was upset with us for harboring her fugitive husband the night before she hid it well.
Maple Syrup. Everyone knows it delicious on waffles, pancakes and french toast, a true New England native knows it’s also wonderful in ice cream, pork, coffee, with a scoop of snow and all sort of other places too! Here I was at the true source. As an aside If you say source with a good Boston accent it sounds like sauce. I was happy to be at the source of my sauce.
Like everything else produced on the farm the easiest part of the process is putting the product in the bottle or in the tank, everything else is a lot of work. They have over 11,000 taps. When the sap starts flowing it’s piped to a storage tank, then gravity fed into a RO (reverse osmosis) machine to remove moisture which will make for more efficient boiling. There is nothing low tech about Karen’s maple operation or the rest of the farm. Computer controlled “windows” maintain the perfect cow happy environment in the barn and a computer helps mix up to 10,000 lbs of proper feed a day. There is more technology on the farm than one might think. Not only is Log Cabin fake syrup but their images on the bottle depicting how it’s made are fake too!
Sometimes the best things happen purely by coincidence. In this case it was opportunity and it was knocking.
I had already been working on two projects. The fist was how to put on an Iron Butt style event in New England; the second was how to satisfy my insatiable craving for RVMS. I had put on a 12hr mini rally earlier in the year with a pint of pure maple syrup as a bonus, now I had a farm to send them to! Not only that but it was perfectly positioned to be the corner of a Saddle Sore 1k (1,000 miles in 24 hours) so the Minuteman 1000 was born. From the Minuteman 1000 Rallybook:
SS1 |
VT |
Swanton |
SS1K Route Corner 1 |
5000 |
Lat: 44.97718 Long: -73.0818 1275 Fortin Rd. Swanton, VT Purchase one pint of real Vermont Syrup Grade Amber Rich Case from the Carman Brook Farm. To reach the Carman Brook Farm from Interstate 91 North, exit I-91 at exit 21. Turn right at the bottom of the ramp and make an immediate left onto Frontage Road. Follow Frontage to the stop sign, continue straight onto Fortin Road. Farm is on the left. NB: The syrup you purchase become property of the rallymaster and it will not be returned.
So… how can you get your hands on some Maple Goodness without having to jump through hoops (the Minuteman 1000) or join me for breakfast at Ribfest or Wailin Waynes? Easy, order on line!
But wait there’s more! To honor our friendship and keep the fun flowing Karen has most generously offered that any friend of mine is a friend of hers so if you put in friendofrob in the coupon code box at check out you’ll get 20% off your order! Yes it sounds like an advertisement has crept into my blog but I receive no compensation, not even a free drop of syrup for my pimping the Carman Brook farm far and wide. I just love our farmers and I hope you do too.
Always remember: You can fix a bad pancake with real Vermont Maple Syrup or you can wreck a great pancake with the fake stuff.
To order some of Daniel and Karen’s goodness visit their website.