The season is progressing in fits and starts with no long runs of sap. Every week we think things will improve but its warm one day and cold the next. The good news is that the syrup we have made ranges from light to dark amber and is of excellent quality.

When the big evaporator is running and up to speed we make syrup at about 2 litres of syrup a minute.The picture shows  syrup streaming out of the evaporator unto the first filter. Syrup when first boiled contains crystals of what we call sugar sand. It is mostly calcium and some other elements which are natural constituents of tree sap. If it is not removed the syrup would be very gritty and unpleasant. We use a pre-filter as shown to remove most of the sugar sand and a pressure filter to polish the syrup so that it is crystal clear. We often wonder how the native people were able to filter their syrup. Perhaps it wasn’t a priority for them.

The Kettle Boys will be boiling this week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Shanty Men will be boiling on Saturday and Sunday. The trails are still snowy but passable.

We don’t serve pancakes or food other then maple tarts and candy. There is an excellent buffet meal with pancakes and maple syrup at Temple’s Sugar Bush and Restaurant at Ferguson Falls on weekends. Its about 12 kms from our farm.

We will be open as usual 10 to 5.