Mark Colburn, with friends and family, was boiling at the Colburns’ Glover sugarhouse Tuesday. Mr. Colburn said it’s been a pretty good season so far. Photo by Tena Starr GLOVER — When Mark Colburn answers the phone it comes as little surprise to learn he’s in the sugarhouse.  He operates Colburn's Village View Maples just up Bean Hill from Glover Village.  The unmistakable hiss of the boiling pan fills the background with sound as he discusses the season's crop.

"It's been pretty slow up until the last few days," Mr. Colburn said on Monday.  "Saturday it was flowing really good.  Sunday not so much but still better than it had been."

It's been an odd kind of season for sugarmakers throughout the state, said Catherine Stevens, the maple syrup marketing director at UVM Extension's Proctor Maple Research Center in Underhill Center.  The season started well and was immediately followed by a cold snap that brought production to a halt.

"We went from warm days and cold nights to just cold everything," Ms. Stevens said.  "Usually we see lighter syrup at the start of the season and it gets progressively darker as the season goes on.  This year it started darker."

Mr. Colburn agreed.  He acknowledged that he had turned out a higher volume of medium amber and dark amber than he would normally produce at the start of a season.  That doesn't spell an end for the prospects of a good crop of fancy grade syrup, however.

"The syrup from this weekend is nice and light with excellent flavor," he said.  "As long as we can get some good weather — and the forecast for Carlton Bickford stopped at Butch Currier’s sugarhouse in Glover on Tuesday just after they’d stopped boiling for the day. Mr. Currier said they made a good bit of syrup in March during a warm spell, and now that the weather’s again warming up they’re back at it. Every sugaring season is different, he said. Photo by Tena Starrthis week looks good — then we should be able to get things back to normal.  I think the quantities of the grades will average out over the season."

What is unlikely to even out is how late the season promises to extend, Mr. Colburn said.  In the view of some sugarmakers of decidedly long-standing, this season promises to be one of the latest in many years.  Just how late that season will last, however, is cause for much speculation.

"There are just so many variables at work," Ms. Stevens said.  "The weather has a tremendous influence and, as you well know out Barton way, the weather can vary a lot even within a state as small as Vermont."

The high winds that have whipped across the region have a drying effect which is tempered by the deep snow pack that has helped trees retain moisture in the ground.  But the depth of the snow pack and the persistence of the wind varies widely from region to region.

"With it being as windy as it was on Sunday, the sap just wasn't flowing as good as it was Saturday," Mr. Colburn said.  "But it was still flowing."

Keeping the taps flowing is crucial to Mr. Colburn's operation.  This year alone he expanded his operation by 25 percent, adding 4,000 taps to his existing 15,500.  His ability to keep pace with the new taps is largely a product of improved technology, he said.

"With reverse osmosis, vacuum pumps and all the rest of it, adding 4,000 taps didn't seem like a big deal," Mr. Colburn said.  "It means covering a lot more ground for sure, but at the sugarhouse, not a lot has changed.  There's just more of it."

Old-fashioned, labor intensive sap buckets line much of Perron Hill in Glover.Mr. Colburn's expanded operation is not unique to the state.  Ms. Stevens estimated that the number of taps has grown by 10 to 15 percent over the past four to five years.  While a few new operations have come online in that time, the majority of the expansion has come from existing sugarmakers.

"Technology has made it so much easier to scale up an operation," she said.  "We have had a couple of years with bumper crops, and this season has the potential for another gangbuster crop."

Adding the taps in a season when the snow accumulated to ever greater depths poses some unique challenges, Mr. Colburn said.  The biggest were ensuring that the lines remained clear and, at season's end, figuring out how to get the taps out of the trees.  But it also had its bright side.

"You didn't have to look hard to find new wood," he said with a laugh.  "I thought it was deep a couple years back when we got all that late snow.  This year has put that to shame."

If daytime temperatures start to climb into the 50s or 60s, the end of the season won't be long in coming, Mr. Colburn said.  Hopefully that time will still be weeks away, he said.

Increased production is a direct result of increased demand fueled by a strong marketing effort by maple producers worldwide, Ms. Stevens said.  Demand for syrup in overseas markets continues to grow even as the domestic market expands.

"People are starting to think about maple syrup more than just on Sunday morning," she said.  "Our recipes page has been getting a lot of hits asMaple syrup: It's not just for pancakes anymore, but it still tastes good on them. While the sugaring season has proceeded in fits and stops through March, things appear to be getting back on track with a forecast of warm days and cool nights ahead. Photo by Richard Creaser people look for new ways to use maple syrup."

Maple syrup pairs well with savory ingredients as a glaze for vegetables, meat and fish, forms a delectable additive to sweet salad dressings and adds exceptional depth of flavor to cocktails.  It is also a fine ingredient when used in baked goods.  The Proctor Center's website, www.vermontmaple.org, has handy recipe ideas as well as tips for substituting maple syrup for sugar.

The increased demand for maple syrup certainly does tie into a growing eat-local food culture.  Maple syrup is uniquely positioned for that market because it is tied intrinsically to a specific geographic region.

"People want to know where their food comes from and how its produced," Ms. Stevens said.  "We are lucky that, here in Vermont, the state is dedicated to protecting the integrity of maple syrup.  By law it has to be 100 percent natural."

To the casual observer it seems odd then that not all maple syrup can be classified as organic.  In order to be certified organic, the sugarmaker must apply and adhere to the rules set forth by the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).  Chief among the requirements are that sugarmakers use only certified organic defoamers in their boiling pans and follow a forest management plan.

"Most sugarmakers are going to have a management plan, whether it is written down or not," Ms. Stevens said.  "They take care of the trees because the trees take care of them.  This is their livelihood."

The fact that the demand continues to increase even in a time of economic adversity speaks to the quality and desirability of maple syrup as a product.  Maple syrup naturally contains calcium, zinc, niacin, riboflavin and anti-oxidants.

"I get to travel around to a lot of sugarhouses, take in a lot of maple steam and taste a lot of syrup," Ms. Stevens said.  "That's why I have the best job in the world.  And I can tell you that in my opinion there are some truly exceptional syrups being made this year."