Traditions: Trip to the Sugar Bush

 
One of our family seasonal celebrations and traditions is a trip to the maple sugar bush.    I don’t recall ever visiting the sugar bush and not having to wear a coat.
Maple syrup tapping actually started much earlier this year due to unseasonably high temperatures(some bushes reported taps flowing in the first week of February) .  For sap to run, there must be nights below freezing and daytime temperatures around 4 of 5 degrees C.  When day and night temperatures are consistently above zero, the sap no longer runs.  The Ottawa Citizen reported yesterday that the maple syrup season came to an abrupt halt when the trees started budding and temperatures reached over twenty degrees.

This year we visited the Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival and enjoyed a pancake breakfast.   On the trail, the girls were able to learn about the Iroquois account of maple syrup’s discovery.

There was also an excellent early settlers demonstration and maple butter tasting.


Someone is having a Little House on the Prairie moment {hey look Mummy, I’m Laura}

The early settlers would boil the sap (which is clear at first) for about five days to get syrup (or even longer to get sugar). 


I found it interesting that Lily felt the best part of the outing was the opportunity to try spinning wool at the early settlers’ demonstration. The girls had a chance to card wool …
and try the spinning wheel (this was a treadle wheel). This is not the sort of spinning wheel that has a sharp spindle (the sort Aurora pricked her finger on was probably a walking wheel). 


Thanks for reading and happy spring,