Panning Out: How Vermont Evaporator Company Connects Us to the Art of Sugaring
In 2015, Kate Whelley McCabe left behind the fast pace of law to pursue a field more attuned to the seasons: maple sugaring.
Kate and her husband, Justin, started the Vermont Evaporator Company in Montpelier with the aim of providing specialty sugaring arches and boiling pans designed for backyard hobbyists— those looking to learn the art.
The business was inspired by the invention of the Sapling Evaporator, a hand-modified, painted barrel stove (known as an arch) complete with a baffled evaporator pan mounted on top to create the perfect backyard sugar evaporator.
Now run by Kate, the company has blossomed into a business offering everything one needs to make their own maple syrup—aside from the trees, hard work, and time, that is.
“It's a ton of work, and it takes a really long time,” Kate said. “People who have tried to make maple syrup before with a turkey fryer or on the grill really enjoy our products because they're just efficient enough.”
Depending on conditions, the Sapling Evaporator can process anywhere between four to eight gallons of raw sap per hour.
For reference, this scale can support anywhere from five to 50 taps.
Learning is a community effort
While they do carry larger evaporator setups, their business model is geared toward creating a fun, accessible option for families and schools to participate in this cultural pastime while also creating opportunities to learn about the ecology, history, and science of how sugar is made.
Kate elaborated on the endless possibilities for learning from sugaring. From writing and history to math and even business, sugaring has so much to teach us.
One school that has adopted sugaring into their yearly curriculum is Montpelier's Main Street Middle School. With a sugarbush less than a 15-minute walk from the school, students are thrilled to help with everything from tapping and collecting to finishing and processing the syrup.
The school's enthusiasm soon outgrew the capacity of their Sapling Evaporator, but luckily, Kate and her family stepped in to help boil down some of the sap so that students could finish it more efficiently.
“They're going out—doesn't matter what the weather is—they're checking the buckets, they're getting their steps in, and they're just kind of going wild,” Kate said.
In addition to a welcomed break from their seats in the classroom, students get a hands-on lesson in density as they monitor the thickening fluid with a hydrometer, ensuring that the syrup is ready for sale.
Regarding the earnings from the school's sugaring operation, Kate shared their model for success: “They give a third of it away to a local food bank, reinvest a third in their business, and hopefully, they do something fun with the other third.”
Seeing is believing, noticing is appreciating
Possibly the most important lesson for any student of sugaring comes from slowing down to observe nature.
“You start noticing things you might otherwise overlook,” Kate said, reflecting on the magic of the sugarbush in season—the way snow melts at the base of trees, sleepy insects stir in the sunshine, and songbirds return to herald the change.
To support observational learning for customers and beyond, the Vermont Evaporator Company has created worksheets on its website designed for various age ranges.
These resources provide valuable knowledge and hands-on frameworks for collecting data—both in the woods and inside the sugarhouse. You can find them here.
Whether as a hobby, a lesson, or a business, the tradition of sugaring has a way of captivating anyone close enough to smell the sweet steam rolling off an evaporator.
But it’s not all sugar on snow. As anyone entering their first season will soon realize, each drop of maple syrup is worth its weight in gold.
And thanks to the innovation of the Vermont Evaporator Company, we can all learn a little more about the patience, perseverance, and—above all—the focus involved in sugaring.
“You have to pay attention every day when you're collecting, and you have to pay attention every minute when you're boiling,” Kate reflects. In that way, sugaring “is an antidote to our naturally wandering attention.”
Written by Devan Monette
The Vermont Evaporator Company supports school sugaring programs with a 5% discount using the code SCHOOLSRULE, valid through March. In addition, they offer valuable guidance to help schools find creative, budget-friendly solutions. Visit their website for resources and contact information.