Welcome to Sugarbush Farm. The winter months are busy here at the farm both in the mail order department inside the farmhouse and outside with winter chores.

The cheese ladies are busy cutting and waxing cheese to put in the thousands of gift boxes we make so beautifully and ship out. UPS manages to get up our steep hill each day to pick up the packages.

We usually get some snow in November and the snow most always stays on the ground by mid December. Most years we get between 70 and 120 inches of snow. January and March usually bring the most snow storms but our town road crew is good about keeping us plowed out. We hope most of the snow has melted by early April but then we get our mud season when the gravel roads turn to foot deep ruts and mud that discourage all but the bravest traveler.

Farm work never ends in the winter since we have about 140 head of cattle to take care of. All the smaller cattle stay inside the barn from early November through mid April, and some of the larger Angus beef cattle eat out in a farm yard and stay warm and dry in a large shed. We have spent all summer cutting and baling hay for them and in the winter it takes about 2 hours each morning and each night to get them all fed, barns cleaned out and bedded with sawdust for the cattle to lay on.

Any spare time for Larry and Ralph is either spent cutting fire wood for next year, working on new sugaring lines for the coming year, or helping out in the farm house with canning syrup and making gift boxes. Since we are open 7 days a week all year long, when things get a bit quieter in January and February each of us hopes to find a week to rest up before preparation for sugaring starts in mid February.

We welcome visitors all year long, but during the winter we suggest you have good snow tires and call ahead if its stormy to check on road conditions. If you can’t make it to the farm, we of course will be glad to ship cheese and maple syrup to you.

Betsy

PS Thanks for supporting our family farm.