Royal Winter Fair 2008

We were very lucky to have another successful year at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, placing first in four out of seven categories! As such, we were awarded with the Corbett Trophy for the highest points in the maple sugar categories, and we also won the Premier Exhibitor Trophy for the highest points total overall. A true honour!

Outstanding Honey Crop!

Despite the rainy summer, the bees have been very busy and we have lots of fresh and delicious wildblossom honey for sale. The wet weather means lots of nectar in the flowers, and so on the sunny days the bees have been able to work very hard collecting it all and turning it into wonderful honey. To quote one happy customer, "It's like eating a bouquet of wildflowers!".

Honey is one of the purest and most natural foods available and is reputed to have many health benefits including boosting the immune system, increasing energy, soothing sore throats, and more. And it's a delicious treat besides! McCutcheon's Wildblossom Honey is available at the Orillia Farmers' Market, Gaudaur Natural Foods store in Orillia, and at our farm. Please call ahead before visiting!

Finished At The Brickworks For Another Season...

I would like to thank all of the wonderful customers at the Brickworks Farmers' Market for another great market season. Unfortunately, due to the small crop this year, I have run out of syrup a little earlier than usual. My Mom and Dad will continue to take syrup to the Orillia Farmers' Market up until Thanksgiving, but the supply is getting low. We currently have only one-litre sizes and smaller available. If you're hoping to stock up for the winter, or put aside some gifts for Christmas, now is the time! Thanks again for the great summer, and I hope to see you at the Brickworks next year!

Season's End

Well, it was a drawn-out season this year, with the syrup gods testing our patience many times along the way! We had to wait for it, but we did wind up with a reasonable crop, just slightly below average in terms of quantity. We are boiling our final batch of syrup today, and then will begin the (less exciting) job of cleaning up for the season. The first step in the process is to wash our 30km of tubing! We do have some delicious fresh syrup for sale at the farm, but please call ahead to assure someone is home, as we will be working out in the woods frequently for the next couple of weeks.

This weekend marks the annual Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival, which we have been attending for over 35 years! Come taste some fresh syrup, have a delicious pancake breakfast, and enjoy the festivities! You can obtain further details at http://www.elmvalemaplesyrup.ca/

Great Sap Days

We've had some excellent runs of sap this week, and have produced just over a half of an average crop of syrup for the season. With these beautiful sunny days the sap is running well, we just need to continue to have the frost at night.

We did get a touch of frost overnight last night, and so the sap is running today and we hope to be boiling later this afternoon. Again, it's a beautiful day to get out and enjoy the sunshine! We spent the morning bottling up another batch of fresh syrup, so come out this afternoon to pick up a jug while it's still warm!

Promising Week Ahead

We were able to collect a small amount of sap over the weekend, with the temperature climbing just enough to cause the run. The forecast for today and the rest of this week sounds very promising, and we're hoping for some ideal sap days. The next two weeks will be crucial for us as generally by mid-april the season is over.

It has been brought to our attention that the map provided by Google Maps for our address is incorrect. We are located on the 9th Line of Medonte, off of the Horseshoe Valley Road. We are open daily from 1:00pm - 5:00 pm. Hope you can find us, and we'll see you at the farm soon!

Signs of Spring!

It got very cold overnight last night, -14 degrees, but the thermometer is steadily climbing. It is not quite warm enough yet for the sap to run, but the sun is shining strong and it may run later this afternoon. It is a beautiful day to visit the sugarbush. We have the fireplace burning in the sugarhouse and as always will be making some sugar-on-snow. Come out this afternoon and enjoy the first signs of spring!

Slow Start

Well, it's late, but I think the maple season has finally arrived! Easter weekend and the beginning of this week were too cold for any sap to run. However, yesterday and today the thermometer finally climbed high enough for us to produce some syrup. The weather report this weekend predicts a high of +1 degree for both Saturday and Sunday. If the sun shines on us (literally!) we may get sap both days. However, there is no guarantee and if the forecast is off by a degree, and it is cooler than expected, we'll be out of luck. We will be open this weekend regardless, from 1:00pm - 5:00pm with fresh maple syrup for sale. I will update this site again tomorrow to let you all know if the sap is running...

Opening on Good Friday

Mother Nature is playing games with us! The past three days, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, were all within two degrees of being good sap days. However, it's been just a little bit too cool for the sap to run. As a result, we've had time to bottle up the batch that we made on Saturday night. I did an official taste-test yesterday, I made some french toast for lunch and I can attest; it's delicious!

If you're looking forward to getting a bottle of your own, we will be opening for the season on Good Friday. We will be open seven days a week, from 1:00pm - 5:00pm until the end of the season. Please remember to dress warmly if you are coming out to visit our sugarhouse, as the forecast this weekend sounds chilly! Hope to see you soon!

Beautiful Sap Day!

Yesterday was a perfect day for a sugarmaker; it froze up to about -3 degrees overnight, then rose to +6 degrees in the afternoon. The sap ran quite well, and we were able to collect some for our first boil late Saturday night. We now have a small amount of delicious, first-run syrup and hope to have it bottled and available for sale by the end of the week.

The forecast today only predicts a high of -3 degrees, in which case we will not get any sap today. However, it is a brilliant sunny day already, so perhaps with the heat of the sun it'll get a little warmer than predicted. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed and watch the thermometer! My dad always says you have to be optimistic if you're going to be a farmer...

It's Almost Here...

We're so close now, I can practically taste that first-run syrup! Today was a great mild and sunny day, and for the first time this season there is a small amount of sap trickling into the sugarhouse. However, after such a deep freeze it will take some time before the trees thaw enough to run well. Our sugarhouse will be closed this weekend, as with all of that snow we have some work to do yet, digging up lines and repairing leaks. If the weather forecasters are correct, the next few days should bring some sap, and we hope to have some fresh syrup made and bottled by the end of the week. Please continue to check back for updates, as we hope to be open for business soon!

Finished Tapping

Well, we did indeed work hard on Thursday and finished tapping all of our trees! Now, we just have to wait for this winter storm to clear out and hope for some warmer weather!

At this time of year, Canadians everywhere are beginning to think maple. I noticed an article today about a brewery in the Ottawa area that welcomes spring with a special seasonal beer. Heritage Brewing uses maple sap instead of water to brew its Maple Bush Lager.

"The beer varies in dryness from year to year depending on the sugar content of the sap," the company says. "This beer has the aroma of maple, the smokiness of a sugar camp and the rich colour of amber maple syrup."

Sounds great! You can check it out on their website: http://www.heritagebrewing.com/seasonal.html

Back In Business

Great, warm day for tapping today. It's about -3 degrees already, and it's supposed to climb up to +1 degree this afternoon. If we work hard, we may be able to finish the tapping today! To the sugarbush...

More Snow!

Surprise, another snow storm! We received approximately 20cm of snow overnight and it is still snowing this morning. This shuts us down on tapping for the day, as the snow sticks to the trunks of the trees and makes it difficult to determine where to drill a good hole. Guess we'll put away the drills and hammers today, and get out the shovels!

Maple Season 2008

Greetings maple enthusiasts! The 2008 maple season is upon us! We've been busy over the past couple of weeks in preparation, and currently have about three-quarters of our 6500 trees tapped. The sap was actually running during yesterday's thaw (+13 degrees!), so it's getting close to showtime! Please check back for daily updates as this year's season gets underway.
Thanks, and think maple!

Sincerely,
Carley McCutcheon