Maple Syrup

Today we visited a Maple Syrup Farm here in Nova Scotia. This was a new experience for us, as we knew very little about the processes.

Freezing nights and warm days are needed to induce the sap to flow in the maple tree.

Traditionally,  a maple tree was tapped through the bark  then the sap was collected in a bucket.

In larger scale production, this method  has been superseded by continuous plastic pipelines.

Some trees have more than one tap.

All these blue lines, join into a wider black line and send the sap down to a tank in a shed.

I was surprised to see that the sap is clear like water.

A tanker then takes the sap to the sugar house.

Where it is boiled up in an evaporator till it reaches the correct density.

This evaporator was heated by wood.

Here the temperature is reaching 104 C.

Some of the syrup is made into fudge.

And of course made into maple leaf shapes.

The maple syrup is bottled and stacked on the shelves.

We sampled the wonderful fudge and came home with some maple syrup and maple butter.

This was a great day out and  a place we will definitely visit again.

This isn’t a great video, but it shows the evaporator at work. I’ll have to try harder with future videos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQsfsYZqybs

On Behalf of our entire family we would like to thank everyone who visited our Christmas Tree Lot this year (2009). Congratulations to all the following winners this year! Colleen Barteax for winning the Christmas Surprise Basket which also included a gift certificate and a Christmas outdoor inflatable lawn ornament! Carolyn Nelson & Chris Woodburn for the gift certificates, maple butter, christmas ornaments! Hope to see you all again next year! Thanks to everyones support we will see you again next year! We would also love to thank all our friends and workers for there help to run the lot and provide great customer service to all our customers.

Thanks Again,

Rex & Bonnie Veinot,

Ryan Veinot and family, &

Venessa Lambert and family

If you have any questions or comments you would like to pass on to us please feel free to contact us. We would love to hear from you! All our contact information is listed under the "Contact Us" tab.

We are pleased to anounce that we will once again be setting up our Christmas Tree Lot in the parking lot of the Joseph Howe Superstore on December 1st 2009. On behalf of our entire family we look forward to seeing you at our Christmas Tree Lots. We would also like to wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

http://www.novascotia.ca/natr/woodlot/woya/2009.asp

Congratulations to Rex Veinot and family of Lunenburg County, the 2009 Provincial and Western Region Winners of the Woodlot Owner of the Year (WOYA). Rex and his family were chosen as regional winners in May 2009 and selected as provincial winners in June.

The Veinot family woodlot, Maplewood Maple Syrup and Christmas Tree Farm, is located in Maplewood, Lunenburg County. Rex says his favourite thing is the smell of maple sugar in the sugar shack, but the 350-acre (142-hectare) woodlot extends well beyond that shack and the home that his great-grandfather also lived in. The woodlot exhibits long-term sound forestry practices, including an emphasis on mixed species and uneven-aged stands management.

It's no surprise that the Veinot family won the provincial Woodlot Owner of the Year Award 13 years ago, that Rex has served as past president of the Lunenburg County Christmas Tree Producers' Association, and that many people have enjoyed wagon tours of his woodlot over the years. This beautiful property includes a large sugar bush and many varieties of Christmas trees, with interspersed apple trees for wildlife. Rex has installed several nest boxes for birds and bats around the woodlot and is hoping to work with local Boy Scouts to install even more boxes. He has also carefully maintained streams, ponds, and riparian areas for habitat, A hundred years ago, a neighbour claimed that a pristine natural spring on the woodlot had healing properties! All the activities on this woodlot contribute not only to the local economy, but also to the export market.

The Veinot family woodlot has been kept healthy through thoughtful management. Rex is a big advocate of management plans, and has been continually updating his since 1978. His vision is to ensure the woodlot is healthy and intact in the future. Rex is the fourth generation to run the woodlot, and is hoping to pass it onto the fifth and sixth generations, continuing the legacy.

http://novascotiatreasures.com/wp2/?p=283

Maplewood Maple Syrup Farm

The Place: Maplewood, Nova Scotia

The Treasure: Maple Syrup

We woke up on the weekend to find Treasure Bear thumping on the door like a zombie and moaning “syyyyrruuup” – I think this was a hint.

We packed up and headed for the beautiful south shore and a place we’ve been visiting for a few years – Maplewood Maple Syrup Farm.

Even though we’d tapped a couple of our own trees this year we were running dangerously low on maple syrup. This qualifies under some emergency measures act I’m sure!

Rex Veinot and family come from a line of maple syrup producers, both his grandfather and father were producers. Their farm has about 3000 taps and a capacity of 5000 or so.

Treasure Bear soaking up the sun before entering the sugar shack:

On this particular day we showed up Rex was packaging some freshly made maple cream. We got to sample some. That’s right. Fresh, literally just made, maple cream. I will now pause to allow jealousy.

Yeah we bought some.

The first thing you see when you enter the sugar shack is the evaporator. This is where the magic happens. It takes 40 litres of sap to boiled down to 1 litre of syrup. This holds way more than that and produces way more than that. I’m good with numbers and stuff.

The evaporator is wood fired and that wood comes from the acreage where they have won the woodlot owner of the year twice - once in 1996 and once in 2009.

It’s a real treat to visit when they’re boiling down the syrup. The smell of maple and wood smoke blend fantastically while Rex gives out samples of syrup. Marketing move? Yes. Effective? Oh yes. Pretty sure it’s a rule that you can’t leave without trying some, possibly a by-law.

Syrup sampling takes place across from what I like to call “the shrine”:

It’s always a pleasure to talk with Rex and hear how the season went or is going, depending on when we can get there. His knowledge is evident and the pride in his product makes each visit special. This year it felt good to talk to him about our experiences in syrup making and get his feedback on it.

On this particular trip we didn’t have enough time to walk the grounds like we did the year before but next time we go we’ll make sure to do a full report on it. It’s really special to be amonst the trees that are producing sap which will become syrup that you can buy here.

As we headed out Treasure Bear protested, climbed half way up the sugar shack and refused to come down:

Why? Treasure Bear wanted to go on a wagon ride, despite us saying it wasn’t the right time of year:

Treasure Bear eventually relented and we headed home. Maple syrup rich and happy that we’d have enough to make it through till next season. Unless we or Treasure Bear go on a maple syrup bender which is entirely possible. In which case we’ll be back!

And yes, since I know you’re wondering, the maple cream DID make it home and lasted nearly a day and a half. New record.

Maplewood Maple Syrup Farm produces a fantastic, local, sustainable product that’s very good for you. Give them a call, drop by, have a sample and support them.