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Maple Syrup Production |
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The earliest confirmed record of maple syrup production at our sugar bush dates back to 1868. Over the years many things have changed but many have stayed the same. Every Spring, during March and April, the Canadian winter weather starts to warm up to above freezing during the day and the sugar maple trees come to life and impart their sweet sap. We simply have to drill a small hole into the tree, collect the watery maple sap, and boil it to concentrate the natural sugars to make Pure Maple Syrup. That sounds simple, but in our case we have 600 acres of maple trees with 200 kilometres of pipeline collecting sap from over 15,000 trees. Visitors can explore part of our sugar bush in action on one of our many Hiking Trails. Consistently above freezing temperatures during the day and cooler nights cause the sap to flow. We immediately collect and boil the watery sap into Maple syrup. It takes about 40 litres of maple sap to make just one litre of maple syrup. The sap is boiled in modern stainless steel vats called evaporators to make a safe, high quality food product. Pure Maple Products are 100% natural with the only ingredient being maple sap... there are no preservatives or additives whatsoever. Learn about the whole process from start to finish on a self guided tour. When we are boiling enjoy the sweet smell of maple and visit with Vernon as he overseas the evaporators.
When we are boiling depends entirely on the weather. We can only make maple syrup when there is fresh sap to boil. The daytime temperature needs to be above freezing (as high as +5 Celsius if it is windy or very cold overnight) and there must have been below freezing temperature within the last day or two. The season generally falls between early March and mid-April. During the rest of the year we are not producing maple syrup but the Evaporator room is open for tours and it is a great time to explore the sugar bush.
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