Our earliest start ever and a very good season for us!
Spring has arrived in the maple woods and we are now busy cleaning up. The tasks involved seem more pleasant when we’ve had a good production year! It’s also a special time in the forest as wildflowers and spring plants are emerging and birds and mammals are returning to their summer habitats.
We have changed our store opening to summer hours as well. We are open on Saturdays from 10 to 2 for farm visits and purchases. We continue our on-line sales, customer pick-ups, shipping and regular deliveries of course. Customers are welcome to visit the farm and walk the trails on Saturdays when the store is open.
Cleaning the pipeline systems is not difficult, but it is a thorough process which involves plenty of hiking. Our pipelines remain in the woods year-round. The first step in cleaning is to backwash the mainlines using a combination of fresh water and pressurized air. This combination “scrubs” the inside of the mainlines and the manifolds where the tubing is connected, removing old sap and any deposits of minerals (think white slime). This takes one person a couple of days.
The next step is removing the spiles from the trees, and with the vacuum running, injecting food grade isopropyl alcohol into each dropline and then plugging the spile base onto the tubing. The combination of alcohol and suction lifts any deposits from the inside of the tuning and fittings. Once plugged, the alcohol settles in tubing loops and the lines are closed off so that alcohol vapour permeates the entire system and prevents the growth of mould or more white slime. This process takes four (4) people about five (5) days.
The pipelines will remain sealed until we tap again next winter, unless a falling branch or tree, animal or something else creates a leak. We monitor and repair issues throughout the year to maintain the integrity of the pipeline networks.
This was the first year where we had meaningful involvement in the farm business by all four generations of the Fortune Family – now spanning seven generations of maple farming! Pretty cool.
Ray is a consultant and researcher, while he and Ruth are both sales agents. Generation five (Sherry and me) runs the operation and my brothers and sister are all involved in sales and emergency work. Generation six – our girls and their partners – help with social media and sales. Now the eldest of Gen7 (that’s what we call the grandkids) are at the point where they can help in the woods and the camp. Grandkids have advantages over Grandparents. They are built low to the ground so they can easily walk under pipelines and pick up stuff in the woods. They provide spare hands to carry tools. They fit in tanks and enjoy cleaning with the squeegee or mop. They love riding on any machine and provide lots of laughter. Good thing because they are all big syrup, sugar, and taffy eaters!
We will have syrup available throughout the year so please call or order on-line whenever you need some. Everyone is welcome at the farm from 10 to 2 on Saturdays while the store is open.
Fortune Farms 