Wendy Davidson

Maple Season 2023

March 10, 2023 By Wendy Davidson Leave a Comment

Hi Maple Loving Friends!

Time flies. Where did 2022 go? Where did January and February go?

We’ve been busy in the sugar bush for a few weeks now, cutting and splitting firewood and getting our maple syrup equipment ready for another season. We started tapping the trees on February 4, the earliest we’ve ever tapped. The winter weather in January and February was kind of wimpy, you know, rainy, cloudy, yukky, not very cold. We (and a lot of other maple syrup producers) are concerned about global warming and will it eventually wipe out our maple syrup season, I sure hope not. Here it is March and winter is finally acting like winter. I prefer the seasons to act like they are supposed to, you know, spring shouldn’t act like summer and summer shouldn’t act like fall, and fall shouldn’t act like winter. And winter needs to act like winter! There, I’m sure many of you wouldn’t agree with me and would rather forgo winter all together. Not me, I like winter and I love our maple season!

Seeing as we tapped in early February, our maple season seems rather long. We had a big start in the middle of February and had some pretty good sap runs. Then a week or so of not very much sap and this past week it was pretty good again. So I’m hoping for those sunny +5°C days and those frosty -5°C nights and some snow to keep the ground cool for the rest of March. With those weather conditions, we’ll be making maple syrup!

We’ll be hosting some OurSugarBush Family and Friends Maple Days over the coming weekends, weather permitting, for outdoor self tours and some pancakes. Dress warm and wear your boots! Watch our facebook page for dates and times. Come out and enjoy our maple goodness with us!

As always, thanks for your support of our small farming business.

I ♥ maple!
Wendy

Maple Season 2022

February 26, 2022 By Wendy Davidson 2 Comments

Hi Maple friends!

Our maple season is just about ready to start!

We have been busy working in the bush for weeks now, getting wood cut and cleaning up fallen trees and brush, the never ending jobs that we really enjoy. Now it’s time to get the trees tapped and get that sap flowing through the sap lines to the tanks, through the reverse osmosis, pumped over to the cabin into the evaporator over the fire and transformed into the sweet maple goodness that we all love. What a journey for the slightly sweet sap that the maple trees offer us every spring. Yum!

As the provincial restriction lift, we are making plans on how we can welcome our maple loving friends back into OurSugarBush to enjoy the most wonderful time of the year! Our Maple Days will be held on weekends, weather permitting, for outdoor self tours and of course, pancakes! We won’t be able to seat you in the cabin to enjoy your pancakes due to that pesky virus but hope to have picnic tables outside with some warmth from a campfire. Stay tuned to our social media for dates and times.

The trees are almost tapped and we are waiting for the weather to warm up a bit for the sap to get flowing so we can get going! We need the freezing and thawing temperature to be about +5°C during the day and – 5°C at night for the maple magic to begin, hopefully soon!

As always, thanks for your support of our small farming business.

I ♥ Maple!

Wendy

Maple Season 2021

March 20, 2021 By Wendy Davidson Leave a Comment

Hi Maple Friends!

To say the last year has been a challenge is an understatement. We could never have imagined that 2020 would have turned out like it did. And here it is 2021 and we’re still facing the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic. Needless to say, work in OurSugarBush continues regardless!

We’ve worked on our trails, added more mainline and taps, and built a new collection shed in the past year. We trucked in several loads of gravel last fall and spread around the cabin which has eliminated the mud…thank goodness! There’s never an end to the work and improvements but it truly is a labour of love.

With February’s freezing cold temperatures, we didn’t start tapping until the end of February this year. Those -20°C nights (which you’ve likely long forgotten about) kept us from getting an early tapping start and then, of course, the weather instantly warms up to get the sap flowing in the trees. Oh well, we’re tapped, collecting sap and making maple syrup now!

Many have asked if we are accepting visitors this year at OurSugarBush. We’ve made a tough decision to limit visits again this year. There’s so many rules and regulations for public gatherings that it seems in everyone’s best interest that we don’t have an open house again this year. However, we are open for sales and if the gate is open, please stop by and pick up your maple syrup supply. If you would rather call or send a message to order, please do and we can arrange a pickup time or delivery.

Stay healthy, stay safe and we’ll get through this pandemic.

I ♥ Maple!

Wendy

Maple Syrup Season 2020

March 7, 2020 By Wendy Davidson Leave a Comment

Where did the winter go? Or did we even have much of a winter? I keep expecting the big dump of snow that lasts more than 3 days but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. So it’s time to tap the maple trees and get ready for another maple syrup season.

Actually, we’ve been busy in the sugar bush for over a month now and finished tapping the trees about the 20^th of February. From a farming perspective, the first crop of the season is being harvested right now! We made our first batch of maple syrup last Friday. I’ve had lots of inquiries about the weather and how it will affect the maple syrup. I won’t have the answer to that question until April, when the maple syrup season is over. Mother Nature is fickle and in this business of farming, we hurry up and wait for the weather.

We’ve been busy in the cabin installing a new wood cook stove and chimney. We’ve dumped more sand in the driveway to try and get rid of some of the mud but I think we just created sand mud. Be sure to wear your rubber boots if you stop by for a visit.

The sap flowing in the maple trees is a sure sign of spring – I never pay too much attention to that groundhog. And I saw a flock of tundra swans this morning heading towards Aylmer which is also more reliable than that old groundhog.

We’ll keep an eye on the weather and plan Our annual Family and Friends Day soon. We’re also participating in the Sweet Ontario Maple Weekend to be held the first weekend in April. Follow us on our facebook page www.facebook.com/oursugarbush for our event dates and times. And if you’re in the area and the gate is open, stop in and say hi! There’s likely a pancake hot off the griddle waiting for you to pour on some fresh maple syrup.

I ♥ Maple!

Wendy

The Grand Finale of Maple Syrup Season 2019

April 4, 2019 By Wendy Davidson Leave a Comment

As the spring warms up, geez, it’s taken a long time hasn’t it? the sap flow starts to dwindle and our maple syrup season will come to a close. We love making maple syrup and it surely is a labour of love, but all good things must end. BUT, we have one more event and it’s our grand finale of the maple syrup season of 2019. This weekend, April 6 and 7 from 10 am to 4 pm, sugar makers across the province will be celebrating the first crop of the year, yes, maple syrup is the first crop harvested in the year and we are participating in MapleWeekend.ca! How special is that! All across Ontario local sugar bushes will be open to the public so you can have a firsthand look at how maple syrup is made and get an opportunity to taste it too. We’ll have pancakes hot off the griddle with fresh maple syrup and maple sugar (that’s our secret way to eat pancakes, by the way). At OurSugarBush we’ll have some tree and leaf trivia to challenge your knowledge and give you a chance to win some OurSugarBush swag. There’s a marked a 1 km trail (the Red Flag Trail) for you to hike and enjoy the spring air!

Stop by for a visit to our little cabin and appreciate all of the maple goodness of OurSugarBush! There’s limited parking in the driveway so you might have to park alongside the road. Oh, and if it’s muddy, Oliver suggests that you wear your rubber boots!

We’re almost at the maple finish line! Except for the cleanup…ugh.

I ♥ maple!

Wendy

What a great maple week!

March 28, 2019 By Wendy Davidson Leave a Comment

Last weekend was our annual Family and Friends Day at OurSugarBush. Lots and lots of visitors enjoyed our little piece of maple goodness in OurSugarBush and we filled lots of bellies with pancakes and fresh maple syrup. I even heard one young fella named Rayj claim “those were the best pancakes I ever had!” Wow, now that’s a great compliment. Someone else asked what the secret to our delicious pancakes is. I simply told them the secret is the log cabin and my griddle. Two of my most favourite things at OurSugarBush!

We’ve been busy boiling sap every day this week long into the evening hours. Chris runs the evaporator and keeps it stoked full of wood making the very finest, sweetest, maple syrup ever! I work more on the processing sap side of the operation. The sap is collected and stored in stainless steel tanks until I’m ready to process it through the reverse osmosis machine which removes 75% of the water from the sap before it is boiled. At the end of each night, the machines are cleaned, tanks and pails are washed, and so is the floor so we’re ready to do it all over again the next day. We continue to hope for good maple weather, +5°C in the day and -5°C at night.

I was invited to speak to Mrs. Dunn’s grade 2 class at Westfield Public School in Tillsonburg on Wednesday about how we make maple syrup. Pretending and imagination were the key ingredients of the class in the fun half hour I spent with them. There were eager volunteers to be trees and other volunteers to drill holes, tap in the spiles and hang the buckets on those tree volunteers. We also had more tree volunteers with a pipeline to collect our pretend sap. Other volunteers made wood logs and crumpled red and yellow tissue paper to build the pretend fire where we cooked our pretend sap into REAL maple syrup. The kids were eager learners and were very keen to taste the sap, maple syrup and maple butter. I hope they enjoyed our pretend tree tapping as much as I did!

Check out the banner hung on the side of the old bakery in Straffordville. It’s our advertising sign for www.MapleWeekend.ca. You are invited to join us at OurSugarBush on the first weekend of April to see first-hand how we make maple syrup. We hope to have a few activities for you to learn about maple syrup and enjoy the maple goodness! Of course, there will be pancakes and lots of maple syrup for you to enjoy. Bring your family and join us April 6 and 7 starting at 10 am until 4 pm.

I haven’t heard the frog peepers croaking yet so our maple season is not over yet!

I ♥ maple!

Wendy

Maple Season 2023

Maple Season 2022

Maple Season 2021

Maple Syrup Season 2020

The Grand Finale of Maple Syrup Season 2019

What a great maple week!

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