2025 Maple Syrup Season Summary

The winter of 2025 in Northern Vermont can best be described as an “old-fashioned winter” - the kind you remember from childhood. There were no huge nor’easters, but it seemed like a few inches of fluffy snow fell almost every day. The most remarkable part? From New Year’s through mid-March, there were no thaws at all. Snow just piled up, and piled up... and then piled up some more. The National Weather Service has measured winter snow depth at a stake near the top of Mount Mansfield for the past 71 years. This year, on March 1st, they recorded the third-deepest snowpack ever for that date. Needless to say, tapping our maple trees was a chore. Even with snowshoes, we sank up to our waists and had to “swim” through the deep powder from tree to tree. Many of our sap lines were buried several feet under the snow and had to be shoveled out by hand. 

With the cold weather and record snow, the maple season started late - especially compared to last year’s unusually mild winter. This change is clear in the graph below, which shows Cumulative Growing Degree Days, a measure of how quickly the weather is warming in spring. We track this each year - it’s useful for predicting events like seed germination and bud break.

  The blue line shows 2025.
  The yellow line is 2024—a mild winter and early spring.
  The black line is the 30-year average.

As the graph shows, 2024 warmed up very early. This year, 2025 lagged behind until a thaw in mid-March. Since then, temperatures have been nearly ideal for sap production. The deep snowpack has helped keep conditions cool in our sugarbush, and we’ve already made a large crop of great-tasting syrup. As of Sunday, April 13th, there’s still plenty of snow in the sugarwoods, and we’re hoping to keep boiling for a couple more weeks—making what used to be called Grade B maple syrup, now labeled Grade A Dark Robust. It’s been a long winter, and we’re all looking forward to spring. As the locals say, “Spring in Vermont is when the snow melts and we discover all the things we lost in October.” Well, this year it might take some time for the snow to melt... and we’ll see if our lawn furniture is out there somewhere. 😊

Summary:

• Winter Weather: Classic New England - cold, deep snow, and relentless wind.
• Late Start: The season started slow but warmed up perfectly by mid-March. Overall it was a tiring but very good production year.
• Long Season: The deep snow may have extended the season by a couple of weeks.    
• Excellent Syrup: We made a large amount of Amber Rich syrup with fantastic flavor.  The color of the syrup during the peak of the season was a little lighter than typical.    
• Community Support:  A Huge THANKS to our family, friends, and community—you make this all possible!   

Images from the 2025 Season (hover over for caption)