The end of the 2026 maple season
We boiled our last sap on Monday April 13th. Our production was excellent in both quality and quantity, and 2026 ranks among our best seasons on record.
Some facts about our season. Our production “window” spanned 37 days and we boiled sap on 25 days during this period. We had four “events” of 1 to 2 days when the sap ran heavily and we had to boil around the clock to stay ahead of the flow. These four events accounted for about half of our total production, underscoring the importance of reliable equipment and capable sugarmakers!
We processed over 650,000 litres of sap this season. That’s about 12 average sized swimming pools in volume. We are making plans to increase our sap storage capacity at both farms to take some pressure off our sugarmakers.
We are now beginning our clean-up, which will take a few weeks. The first step is to backwash the pipeline systems to remove any film that has built up on the walls and fittings in the mainlines. We do this by pumping fresh water, pushed with compressed air back through the pipes. The air and water mix scrubs the lines preparing them for sanitation.
Sanitizing the lines involves removing each tap from the tree and then injecting food grade alcohol into the tubing which lifts deposits off the walls of the lines. The alcohol vapourizes in the tubing and prevents the growth of microbes until we tap again next spring.
Pipeline and tubing cleaning is pleasant work – most of the time. We are outdoors in the woods as it comes to life. We also find tools and other things that we dropped in the snow over the winter!
An interesting bird that we encounter in the wet areas of the woods is the American Woodcock. It is a migratory, breeds in our area and relies on a diet of earthworms. The woodcock has a long beak and eyes positioned at the back of its head, so their eyesight isn’t obstructed when they plunge their beak into the ground. The woodcock is a master of camouflage, can you spot the bird in the middle of this photo?
As we clean up, and celebrate another successful maple season, we are grateful to our family, friends, and employees who are so capable and supportive. Maple is a binding tradition in our lives.
Lastly, we appreciate the support of our customers, who are critical to the success of our family business. We enjoy sharing our farm with you and your feedback on your experiences and our products is heartening.
We will be open from 10 to 4 on the weekends of April 18/19 and April 25/26. After that, we will return to our regular hours of Saturday openings from 10 to 2 for the rest of the year. We have ample supplies of golden, amber and dark grades on hand which can be ordered online or over the phone for pick up, shipping or local delivery.