Seasoned heads to the forest for local maple syrup

By Robyn Doyon-Aitken ,

Meg Dalton, Tagan Engel, Stephanie Stender, Katrice Claudio

Published March 20, 2024 at 3:32 PM EDT

1 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 5th grade science students heading from the outdoor Maplevillion to the Discovery Trail to collect sap while learning to make maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

2 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 8th grader Carly Covey chopping fire wood with the help of science teacher Xander Lowry and his hatchet to feed the evaporator in the Maplevillion while learning about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

3 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School director of facilities Jim Rumberger loading the firebox of the evaporator where the syrup is being boiled down in the Maplevillion where the science students are learning about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

4 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School science teacher Xander Lowry takes over the drilling of the hole for the tap to the right depth in the maple tree with his 3rd grade students while learning about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

5 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 3rd grade student Theodore Agli watches as classmate Max Gilyard takes his turn at setting a tap in a maple tree while learning about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

6 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 3rd grader Max Gilyard tasting sap straight from the tree after helping set the tap while learning about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

7 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 5th graders Allegra Petrulis and Jahan Irani struggle opening a frozen bucket of sap while switching out full buckets of sap with empty ones as they learn about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

8 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 5th graders Diana Lawrence-Marsh and Jahan Irani push as Malik Joseph pulls buckets of sap to the steaming Maplevillion to be processed while learning about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

9 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 8th grader Marilyn Jones reads the maple syrup hydrometer and is surprised to learn that the sample of melted ice from the sap buckets collected today had nearly 2 percent sugar content when it should have been much less while learning about making maple syrup in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

10 of 10 — IDS Maple syrup

Independent Day School 3rd grade students get a last taste of fresh tapped sap if they can answer a science question from science teacher Xander Lowry about sap and the maple trees before going back to their classes for the day in Middlefield, Connecticut February 26, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

It’s maple syrup season! We visit The Independent Day School 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 Mashantucket Sugar Shack was “the best in all the land.” 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.

1 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

Farm manager Jeremy Whipple feeding the fire box adding more wood every 15 minutes. It’s 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, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

2 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

3 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

4 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 02, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

5 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 02, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

6 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 02, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

7 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

8 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

9 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

Pequot Maple Syrup during it’s final stage boiling in the evaporator in Mashantucket, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

10 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

Supervisor Mike Martins checking the sugar content of the sap that’s just where it should be at 2% for making syrup in Mashantucket, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

11 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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, Connecticut February 02, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

12 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation language translated signs hang on the wall at the Sugar Shack where they make Pequot Maple Syrup in Mashantucket, Connecticut February 08, 2024.

Joe Amon / Connecticut Public

13 of 13 — SUGAR SHACK

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 / Connecticut Public

Jeremy is also the project manager of the Mashantucket Sugar Shack. Jeremy explains maple syrup’s significance to members of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and how he and his team make the Pequot Maple Syrup–using 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 The Independent Day School in Middlefield, Conn. (@theindependentdayschool) (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 how the Pequot Maple Syrup is made. (@meechoook_farm) and Mashantucket Sugar Shack 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 Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email: seasoned@ctpublic.org.

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