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<\/a><\/p>\nWe went up to the hay barn and settled in.\u00a0 We had a lovely evening and enjoyed a visit from Dan who enjoyed our beer and bourbon.\u00a0 We were enjoying his company when his amazing “farmers sense” kicked in and he stood up and said he had to go.\u00a0 30 seconds later we met his wife Karen who was wondering where her husband was.\u00a0 We pleaded the fifth and she went to find her errant husband.\u00a0 We stayed up and enjoyed a wonderful evening under the stars.<\/p>\n
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04:30 came way too soon.\u00a0 It felt like someone threw on a 440 volt power feed to the barn.\u00a0 Lights, cows and\u00a0Southern Rock.\u00a0 Loud.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Holidays, birthdays and even when you’re hosting a National Trails Championship with strangers in the barn, the cows get milked.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It’s no wonder he never has much time to go for a ride.<\/p>\n
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Farmer Dan.\u00a0 One of the two percenters.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It’s not a barn without a cat.\u00a0 The cat keeps the barn mouse free and does a little quality control sampling of the milk.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Soon we were joined by Daniels wife Karen.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Karen Fortin<\/em> <\/p>\n Maple Syrup.\u00a0 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!\u00a0 Here I was at the true source.\u00a0 \u00a0 As an aside If you say source with a good Boston accent it sounds like sauce.\u00a0 I was happy to be at the source of my sauce.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 They have over 11,000 taps.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 There is nothing low tech about Karen’s maple operation or the rest of the farm.\u00a0 Computer controlled “windows”\u00a0 maintain the perfect cow happy environment in the barn and a computer helps mix up to 10,000 lbs of proper feed a day.\u00a0 There is more technology on the farm than one might think.\u00a0 Not only is Log Cabin fake syrup but their images on the bottle depicting how it’s made are fake too!<\/p>\n Sometimes the best things happen purely by coincidence.\u00a0 In this case it was opportunity and it was knocking.<\/p>\n I had already been working on two projects.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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!\u00a0 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<\/a> was born.\u00a0 \u00a0From the Minuteman 1000 Rallybook:<\/p>\n 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?\u00a0 Easy, order on line!<\/p>\n But wait there’s more!\u00a0 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!\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I just love our farmers and I hope you do too.<\/p>\n Always remember:\u00a0 You can fix a bad pancake with real Vermont Maple Syrup or you can wreck a great pancake with the fake stuff.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n If she was upset with us for harboring her fugitive husband the night before she hid it well.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n
\n \n SS1<\/strong><\/pre>\n<\/td>\n
\n VT<\/pre>\n<\/td>\n
\n Swanton<\/pre>\n<\/td>\n
\n SS1K Route Corner 1<\/pre>\n<\/td>\n
\n 5000<\/pre>\n<\/td>\n
<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Lat: 44.97718 Long: -73.0818\u00a01275 Fortin Rd. Swanton, VT\r\n\r\nPurchase one pint of real Vermont\u00a0 Syrup Grade Amber Rich Case from\r\nthe Carman Brook Farm.\r\n\r\nTo reach the Carman Brook Farm from Interstate 91 North, exit I-91 at exit 21.\r\nTurn right at the bottom of the ramp and make an immediate left onto Frontage Road.\r\nFollow Frontage to the stop sign, continue straight onto Fortin Road.\r\nFarm is on the left.\r\n\r\nNB:\u00a0 The syrup you purchase become property of the rallymaster\r\nand it will not be returned.<\/pre>\n