Benedictine monks cooperate with nature in maple syrup operation

Published: 2006-03-31

WESTON, Vt. (CNS) -- The gift shop of the Benedictine Monks of Weston Priory doesn't just sell compact discs and cassettes of their famous music. Shelves also are stocked with the monks' own maple syrup. They began sugaring in Weston in 1954, the year after the priory was founded. Today, the monks place about 300 taps on maple trees on their property that borders the Green Mountain National Forest in central Vermont. The 13 monks at the priory bottle syrup in pint and half-pint plastic jugs with their own label. The syrup sells in their gift shop alongside their music: "Listen," "Wherever You Go," "Spirit Alive," "Go Up to the Mountain" and "So Full of Deep Joy." It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup, and the monks produce between 35 and 80 gallons of syrup, depending on the season. They own about 35 acres of sugar bush over three sites and alternate sugar bushes to allow the trees to rest for a few years between tappings.

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