Spring must be on its way. When the maple syrup starts running you know tulips and crocuses can’t be far behind.
Between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm on April 8th, your family can walk through a sugar bush and watch the process to turn maple sap into delicious maple syrup. Maple Day is all happening thanks to a group of local Maple Syrup producers.
You will find Johnson’s Sugar Bush on the Oak Ridge Moraine on County Rd. 28. The family now has 1000 sugar maples – an accomplishment that has evolved over 25 years. Craig and Marissa Johnson will give you a tour of their sugar house and show you all the ins and outs of maple production.
Puddleduck Farms is relatively new in the maple production business – just 8 years. Visit them at the Kentucky Sugar Bush, south of the village of Millbrook on County Rd. 10. You can buy syrup, maple butter and maple candies from their farm on Glamorgan Rd or at the Millbrook Farmers’ Market.
J & K Sugar Shack now share their maple syrup products with the public – their efforts for their own consumption have grown into a small business. You can find them on Challice Line South in the village of Millbrook. You can sample maple syrup products and baked goods.
You can find Siblings who produce Squirrel Creek Farm’s Syrup on Brackenridge Dr. west of Bailiboro. If the weather cooperates you can see sap turned into syrup using traditional wood heat. And be sure to bring your appetite to enjoy the pancakes and sausage that will be available for sale.
Sugar Rush Maple Bush is a new operation on Deyell Line. See the sap running and enjoy the sweet smells – the aroma of spring!
Staples Maple Syrup has been making syrup since 1813! They harvest sap from 3600 taps on their family farm on Hwy 7A between Cavan and Bethany. But the equipment is all new including an industrial sized oil-fired steel evaporator and a state of the art reverse osmosis system.
The Winslow family has been operating Woodleigh Farms for 4 generations. You will find them on Sharpe Line in Cavan where maple syrup has been part of the operation since 1988.
MT Wilson family farm is a hobby operation but their roots go back more than a century. You will find them on Bland Line in Mount Pleasant.
Now Maple Day is dependent on the weather, so fingers crossed. The producers need mild days and cool nights to ensure a good harvest and fast flowing sap. Fingers crossed for April 8th!
Jeffrey Kerr enjoying maple syrup!
Bethany Ontario 