Jim Thurston Maple

Jim Thurston has been sugaring since the 1950s, mainly as a hobby but in recent years as a way to supplement his income. He started sugaring on his current property three years ago. He sells the majority of his syrup roadside on the weekends in Stockbridge on Route 100. He is in the process of expanding his operation with a new evaporator, expanded piping and tubing, and using a VFF Business Builder loan, built a new sugarhouse which will allow him to produce more of his own product (currently he sells his own syrup plus some that he purchases wholesale from a sugarhouse in Waitsfield). Jim’s nephew is also involved in the family business, helping to set up the lines in the winter and boil during the sugaring season.