Maple in the County

Busy weekend at the County’s sugarbushes

Afresh snowfall on Friday provided a picturesque setting for the Maple in the County weekend, and the sunshine and more moderate temperatures helped to encourage visitors to sugarbushes across the County. As usual, there was a line-up to get breakfast at Fosterholm. It was a bustle of activity inside the cabin where a team of cooks provided a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausages. Archer Hele and his sister, Zelda, were there with their grandparents. “They have the best maple syrup ever,” said Archer. Dean and Rylan Foster explained to visitors the process of collecting sap and converting it into syrup, while patriarch Clifford Foster engaged in conversation with the breakfastgoers in the cabin.

It was also a busy scene at Hubbs Sugarbush. A long line of cars were parked along Pulver Road for the breakfast prepared by members from Masonic Lake Lodge #215. Even with three griddles on the go for pancakes and two cauldrons of boiling oil in which the sausages were cooked, there was still quite often a line-up for breakfast. And of course there was an ample supply of maple syrup dispensed by Master Maple Syrup Pourer Garry Foster. The breakfast is a fundraiser for a project chosen by the Deputy Grand Master of the Prince Edward District. This year, Wayne McFaul chose ReThink Breast Cancer as the cause. “I’ve chosen it mainly because my grandmother, my mother, my sister, and my daughter all have had breast cancer,” he said. The Masonic Foundation of Canada will top up any funds collected by 25 per cent. Mr. McFaul said the response over the weekend has been “fantastic” and he hopes to raise $10,000.

There were plenty of treats available for purchase at Sweetwater Cabin. In addition to making maple syrup, Janice and Ron Hubbs make a number of “value added” products. These require heating the maple syrup from between 22 to 50 degrees Celsius above the boiling point of water.

Ron and Janice have been making these since 1997 and learned some of the methods from George and Alice Potter from Sandy Flats Sugarbush, who were five-time world champions of maple candy making. “With maple butter, you heat it up to 22 degrees above the boiling point of water and then you cool it quickly in an ice bath. You then stir that with a little bit of ‘seed’ from a previous batch to make sure it gets into a creamy texture. With soft sugar candies you have to heat it up to 28 degrees above the boiling point, and for hard sugar it has to go up to 50 degrees above,” said Janice. There’s a candy kitchen on the second floor of the log cabin where the additional products are made. A three-burner propane stove is used to heat the maple syrup to the desired temperature. The log cabin was built in 1830 and was moved by the Hubbs from its original location in Lanark County in 1998 and refurbished onsite.

It was a busy weekend at Roblin’s Maple syrup, where in addition to the maple products there was maple butter on an English muffin and maple pulled pork on a bun. Visitors could sample a variety of maple syrups from light amber to very dark, and well as a sublime cinnamon maple syrup. Phil Roblin said this year’s season started very early and was about average in terms of sugar content. “Quantity and quality of the syrup was very good. We’ve made a lot of dark, which in previous years we haven’t. It had been more golden and amber, but this year with the warmer weather we’re making the darker syrup,” he said. They have about 1,800 taps and produce about one litre of maple syrup per tap. The sap sugar content was around two per cent this season, dropping to about 1.5 per cent towards the end. A reverse osmosis unit concentrates the sap to about 12 per cent sugar before it is sent to the evaporator for boiling off. The syrup is passed through a series of filters to remove “maple sand” before it is bottled or processed further. It’s a lot of work, and Mr. Roblin is grateful for the help of friends and family. “We wouldn’t be able to do this weekend if it wasn’t for our family and friends. Throughout the year my dad is a big help, and my wife, Brittany, is a big help, and my kids are into it now. They help me in the woods checking the vacuum system for leaks. It’s definitely a friends and family effort.”