The inspiration for the Sugaring Season - Winter 2021 Story Collection is drawn from the landscape that provides a dramatic backdrop for the Vermont sugaring season, which occurs at the threshold between winter and spring. The muted colors of the thawing landscape mark the conclusion of winter, when freezing nights and warming days encourage the sap to rise. Gathering sap in a maple sugar camp, Vermont, ca. 1906. Image source: Detroit Publishing Company photograph collection (Library of Congress) Maple sugaring has a long history in Vermont and the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) is the official state tree. Early British and French settlers observed how to tap sugar maples by watching the Native American tribes, who used bark vessels to collect batches...
The inspiration for The Sugarmaker - Winter 2021 Story Collection is drawn from the maple sugaring traditions of Vermont and the iconic symbols, tools, and products of the sugarmaker. The collection celebrates the sugarmakers tending the tap lines and fires of the sugar harvest, and the candy makers passing down recipes for household favorites from generation to generation. Vermont Trade Winds Farm's 1790s barn/sugarhouse. Although many historical maple sugaring traditions have been replaced with modern methods, some sugarmakers continue to carry on the legacy and knowledge passed down to them from prior generations. One such sugarmaker is Tim Hescock of Vermont Trade Winds Farm in Addison County, Vermont. Tim learned how to process maple syrup as a boy from his older brothers...
The inspiration for The Beekeeper - Fall 2021 Story Collection is drawn from the life of the beehive at harvest time; celebrating traditional beekeeping practices, the gifts of the hive, and the contemporary beekeepers tending bees according to the old ways.
The inspiration for The Painted Hive - Fall 2021 Story Collection is drawn from the vibrant painted bee hive traditions of Central Europe found in countries including: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Serbia and Austria.
