AIKEN’S GORE
Aiken’s Gore is a family-owned sugarbush in the mountains of southern Vermont.
The land has been in the family for generations. In 2026, we brought maple production back to it at a new scale.
THE SUGARHOUSE
The first season started with roughly 1,100 taps.
Sap runs downhill through the woods to the sugarhouse, where it becomes maple syrup over a wood-fired evaporator.
There are modern systems involved, but the basic proposition remains wonderfully direct: trees, weather, fire and time.
The first season produced hundreds of gallons of syrup.
BUILDING THE BUSINESS
Aiken’s Gore produces and sells pure Vermont maple syrup under its own name, from small bottles to gallon jugs.
Making maple syrup and building a maple business are two different things.
Alongside the work in the woods and sugarhouse, we’ve been building the operation around it: production systems, packaging, pricing, direct sales, wholesale relationships and the experience of the place itself.
Ely serves as COO.
The sugarhouse has also become a place to bring people into the work. During our first season, a local school group came to see how maple syrup is actually made.
FULL CIRCLE
There is also a connection to another Living Project.
Maple syrup was once the most expensive ingredient in a bottle of Up Mountain Switchel. Years later, Aiken’s Gore gives us the ability to produce it ourselves.
Where that connection might lead is still an open question.