MAPLE SYRUP SEASON IN THE KAWARTHA’S

We’ve been busy boiling down sap from a few of our glorious Maples. With 15 acres of mostly Maple trees we have quite a choice of which ones we tap. The season lasts as long as the temperature at night is below 0º C and is above 0º C in the daytime. Tapping a tree, from the abundant sources of information available, does not hurt the tree, but it does put a 5/16″ hole in through the bark and into the outer layers of wood where the sap is flowing up from the ground. We have some old spiles that get knocked into the Maple and we currently hang 15 of those ubiquitous light blue sap buckets from the spile hooks on 13 different trees. The ratio of sap collected to final maple syrup is 40:1, which means 40 litres of sap will make one litre of syrup. Our favourite syrup is boiled down early in the season, and it is a light grade. I find the taste to be more delicate and hits the tongue with a little more zing. We’ve been keeping some really nice bourbon and scotch bottles as well as some antique Mason jars (the ones with glass lid tops) for the final product

The video above is from 2012, the first year we tapped the trees.