THE STORY OF THE SUGARBUSH
Spring has sprung and sap from the sugar maple has begun to flow. I use a lot of maple syrup in baking and cooking and wanted to better understand the production of maple syrup before my next pour from the bottle. I also wanted to see the making of maple syrup in action, so I headed to a sugarbush near Burk’s Falls, Ontario, to The Farmstead at Ravenwoods.
As I entered the farmstead, I noticed a magnificent sugar maple. This tree is believed to be the grandmother of their sugarbush and has never been tapped to preserve the tree.
There are over 150 species of maple trees around the world and only a few of them can be used to make maple syrup. The sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is used most widely and makes the best maple syrup. The symbol of Canada is the largest producer of maple syrup in the world with Quebec representing the highest percentage of production.
I see Fern emerge from a small shed in one of the gardens and waves as she comes towards me. This is my first time visiting the farmstead operated by 4 generations of maple producers and I am excited to tour the sugarbush and find out how they go from tree to bottle.
Fern Ritchie and Colin Cordell run the farmstead, along with Fern’s parents, second generation maple farmers Heidi Clausen and Robert Ritchie. The Farmstead at Ravenwoods is in it’s second year growing market vegetables and plants, while maintaining their small sugarbush which taps 250-300 maples every spring.
The tradition of tapping sugar maple trees started with the Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, including the Abenaki, Haudenosaunee and Mi’kmaq, who were first to tap the sweet liquid to preserve meats and make syrup.
Fern and I walk through one of many fields to get to the sugarbush, where Colin is waiting for us to show me how to tap a sugar maple. Tapping is an art all on its own and I was lucky enough to be there on a warm sunny day to see the sap drip as soon as I drilled the hole using a bit that is specifically made for tapping trees.
As I sat for a moment to observe the drippings before I tapped in the spile, I could hear each drop of the sap echoing through the sugarbush as it bounced off the bottom of the bucket that had been meticulously placed on each tree.
I tapped in the spile and watched each drop mirror the forest’s reflection telling the story of the sugar bush.
You will want to find a sugar maple with a flat surface, no moss, past hole or damage to the tree. If you find a hole from previous years, you will want to drill 2 inches above or below and 2 inches on either side of the hole. Make sure to drill closer to the bottom of the tree but with enough room to be above the snow for the bucket to hang. After you drill your hole on a slight upward angle, you will want to tap in the spile using a hammer. The spile is a wood, metal or plastic spout that collects the sap from the tree. Add the bucket under the spile, watch the sap drip out into the pail and drop the lid. Repeat.
March and April are the months when the temperatures start to rise above 10°C throughout the day. When the nights are below freezing, water from the soil is absorbed into the sugar maple. The warmer temperatures in the day create pressure that pushes the water back down to the bottom of the tree where you tap to collect the sap. The length of sap flow generally lasts 6 weeks ending in April. Depending on the spring, each tree could produce about 35-50 litres of sap.
After we tapped their 265th tree, it was time to empty the buckets that had been collecting morning sap. This process is done by pouring the sap from the buckets through a meshed sieve into a larger container. Once each large container is filled they are emptied into a holding container at the sugar shack waiting to be filtered and poured into the evaporator.
Robert was at the helm of the evaporator “hand fanning” the steam along with his lifelong friend, 2nd generation maple farmer, George, who was helping to keep the wood-fired stove burning. They were eagerly awaiting my arrival to tell their story and how the evaporator works.
The sugar shack along with evaporators changed production of maple syrup in the 1800’s. This allowed better storage and filtration, easier bottling and it decreased the length of time it took to boil the sap.
Small batches of sap are boiled constantly from morning to the middle of the night until enough water has evaporated to reach a sugar content percentage of 66.9 Brix or 219°F (104°C). Sterilized glass bottles are then filled with the finished maple syrup, labeled and distributed to local shops and markets.
There are 4 colours/grades of maple syrup (gold, amber, dark and very dark) and despite the wide range in colour and flavour, all four are produced the same way.
The colour/grade of the syrup can change based on the soil and the deeper into spring the sap flows.
GOLDEN - Golden comes from sap harvested at the very beginning of the season. It has a distinguished light golden hue with a sweet, vanilla flavour. It is mostly used to sweeten yogurt or drizzle on baked goods.
AMBER - This syrup has a pure, rich taste. Full of maple flavour and the most popular colour. You will want to drizzle this over all of your pancakes.
DARK - Dark has a more robust, caramelized flavour, is well-suited for baking and cooking with.
VERY DARK - Harvested at the end of the sugaring-off season and has the strongest maple flavour. It is mostly used in baking and in sauces.
At the end of each season when the buds begin to open, it is time to pull out all the spiles and pack up to prepare for the following spring.
Once the last bucket is stored in the sugar shack have a shot of maple to cheers the successful harvest.
Photo taken by Fern Ritchie Discover The Farmstead at Ravenwoods in Burk’s Falls, Ontario.
Located 1 hour South of North Bay, Ontario.