EAST BURKE, Caitlin and Caleb Temple started Burke Mountain Maple Company about 14 years ago near the base of Burke Mountain, producing organic wood-fired maple syrup. The operation now has 8,700 taps on about 100 acres of sugarwoods.
“We feel that wood-fired is traditional. Everyone asks me where the oil is. And I’m like, no, we’re sticking with wood,” Caleb Temple said.
The Temples use six to eight cords of wood per season to make around 3,500 gallons of syrup. They keep their trees healthy by limiting taps to one per large tree, even when two or three would be standard. “That’s to keep the health of the tree and not to have over-tapping so the tree will last, hopefully, for our kids’ lives,” Caleb said.
Caleb’s grandfather and great-uncle are tied to the origins of the maple creemee. Blake C. Roy, a former marketing specialist for the Vermont Department of Agriculture, proposed that Rutland County Maple Producers sell a maple-flavored creemee at the 1981 Vermont State Fair. The recipe caught on.
In addition to syrup, Caitlin Temple makes maple cream varieties, maple shakers, and maple sugar. “We put our heart and soul into making this product,” she said.
The business is a family affair, with their children and extended family helping out. “It’s not a high-return industry, but it’s, you know, you gotta love what you’re doing,” Caleb Temple said.
Originally reported by WCAX.
Photo: Jcantroot (Wikimedia Commons, Public domain). Photo is illustrative and not from the scene.
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