It鈥檚 maple syrup season! We visit in Middlefield where students learn the art and science of maple syrup-making starting in kindergarten. Science teacher Xander Lowry is our guide as we tap trees, gather sap, split wood and make syrup with local students. Students in third, fifth and eighth grades describe what they love about the process and the ways making maple syrup brings the community together.
And, when Seasoned spoke to James Beard Award-winning chef Sherry Pocknett this past summer, she told us that the maple syrup coming out of the was 鈥渢he best in all the land.鈥� Of course, that made us want to see, smell and taste for ourselves. Producer Tagan Engel takes a walk in the forest to visit the maple sugar operation guided by Jeremy Whipple, a member of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and executive director of the Tribal Department of Agriculture.
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Farm manager Jeremy Whipple feeding the fire box adding more wood every 15 minutes. It鈥檚 a hot job keeping the temperature around 1400 degrees to keep the sap boiling in the evaporator at the Sugar Shack where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Sap dropping into a feeding tray for the main evaporation after being warmed in the first stage of the boiling process at the Sugar Shack where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Farm manager Jeremy Whipple turns on the vacuum to bring in more sap from the main holding tank at the Super Shack to feed the different stages of the evaporator in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Sap is pulled from the tap lines in the sugar bush by vacuum to 1200 gallon holding tanks on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Reservation to make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 02, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Drop lines run from taps through acres of maple trees called the sugar bush delivering gallons of sap to holding tanks on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Reservation where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 02, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Supervisor Mike Martins with the Department of Agriculture stops the hose from pulling away from the tank that transports the sap from the 1200 gallon holding tanks in the sugar bush to the Sugar Shack where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 02, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Supervisor Mike Martins getting another load of wood for the fire box that has to be fed every 15 minutes to keep the temperature around 1400 degrees to keep the sap boiling in the evaporator at the Sugar Shack. He will make many trips during boiling days in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Farm manager Jeremy Whipple keeps a constant eye on the temperature of the boiling sap that will be ready to drop at 219.8 degrees in the Sugar Shack where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Pequot Maple Syrup during it鈥檚 final stage boiling in the evaporator in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Supervisor Mike Martins checking the sugar content of the sap that鈥檚 just where it should be at 2% for making syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Farm manager Jeremy Whipple with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation department of Agriculture tasting the syrup at the Sugar Shack where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 02, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation language translated signs hang on the wall at the Sugar Shack where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, 黑料吃瓜网 February 08, 2024.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
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A new label for the Pequot Maple Syrup debuts in 2024. The label was designed by a tribal member to be more reflective of the nation's cultural identity. "Weekapaheek" is the word for maple syrup in the Pequot language.
Joe Amon / 黑料吃瓜网
Jeremy is also the project manager of the Mashantucket Sugar Shack. Jeremy explains maple syrup鈥檚 significance to members of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and how he and his team make the Pequot Maple Syrup鈥搖sing modern technology while drawing on hundreds of years of ancestral tradition at the Mashantucket Sugar Shack.
Plus, Tagan shares her method for making for Maple Rosemary Glazed Pecans.
GUESTS:
- Xander Lowry: Science teacher at in Middlefield, Conn. () (with special thanks to Jim Rumberger, Director of Facilities at The Independent Day School)
- Third, Fifth and Eighth Grade Students from The Independent Day School
- Jeremy Whipple: Executive director of the Tribal Department of Agriculture and the project manager of the Mashantucket Sugar Shack. Learn more about . () and on Facebook.
This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Meg Dalton, Tagan Engel, Stephanie Stender, Katrice Claudio, and Meg Fitzgerald. Sabrina Herrera, Francesca Fontanez, Martha Castillo and Janae Spinato are our Social team. Our interns are Scout Raimondo and Shanice Rhule.
Join the conversation on , , , and email: seasoned@ctpublic.org.
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