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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-03-30, Page 3THE HURON EXPOSITOR, MARCH 30 1988 - 3 Local families make sap tapping tI© For most people Spring means the snow is finally vanishing, buds are opening, and warm weather is on its way, but for many local people like Bob Fotheringham it means the sap, is flowing and maple syrup season has begun. Mr. Fotheringham says his father made �• maple syrup every March when he was a boy, and he grew up with it. "It's just a tradition I've done all my life, every spring we make maple syrup," he says. Mr. Fotheringham and his neighbor Craig Piet will be hoping to get about 50 gallons of syrup this year. This is the Piet family's first year making syrup and they are finding they enjoy the experience. While the basic process of making maple syrup remains the same for Mr. Fother- ingham and his family, some of the par- ticulars have changed from the times when he was a boy. Syrup had to be hauled bucket by bucket then, and the whole process was done outdoors. Mr. Fotheringham still makes his syrup the old fashioned way -boiled over a fire, but about 40 years ago Mr. Fotheringham's father built a shanty around the huge ce- NO � "They thought they d the w*r9d made when they built this shanty... (S rs ment stove used to boil sap, and the sap is now pumped into the shanty by an electric pum °They thought they had the world made when they built this shanty after sitting out- side with the wind and leaves and sticks," says Mr. Fotheringham. Inside the shanty the syrup is safe from the wind blowing leaves into it, and small sticks and wood chips are rare also. And more importantly, the heat is kept in the shanty to get maximum use out of the fire used to boil the sap, and the syrup can't get rained on. His methods may be somewhat old fashioned compared to some of the people in the area who tap sap for a business, but he says he likes themore natural approach to making syrup. "They tell me you've got to have a few sticks and stuff in the sap to get that natural flavour out of it," he says. Most of the process will always be the same as far as the Fotheringhams are con- cerned. About 300 trees are tapped (many of them still have 'scars' where they have been tapped in the past, and many have been tap- ped every year for a long time) and buckets hang on trees throughout Mr. Fotheringham and Mr. Piet's property. When the buckets get full they have to be emptied into barrels near the boiler, and that used to be done by hand. But now Mr. Fotheringham has a four wheeler he uses to drag a barrel through the th, nptying breakfast. They also supply thy, Vanastra buckets into the barrel as he goes. curling club with syrup for their Spring And no longer does he have to put tl..' sap Thaw breal.i tst. in the boiler bucket by bucket, as his electric • W e have uu trouble getting rid of it," pump has made that chore easier. It takes says Mr. Fotheringham, adding his family about 45 gallons of sap to make one gallon of manages to keep five or six gallons of syrup syrup, so :roving it all by hand would be a for themselves. ' big job. • Mary Fotheringham does a lot of cooking Bu, i.`,ere is still a lot ,f work involved for using maple syrup rather than sugar. Her the hobby sap collector The fire used to boil husband has high praise for the way she the .ap goes through 1ti ood at a pretty good prepares harp using it. Maple syrup is also clip, and keeping the sap' boiling is almost a used on ice cream and even cereal in the full time job. Once the sap is boiled to syrup, Fotheringham household. any surprises have to be h., en ed out of it. "But it's not all sunshine," says Mr. The Fotheringhams then take the syrup Fotheringham, recalling'how he was carry - home and boil it again with eggs and milk. ing a bucket of sap the other day and tripped The eggs and milk cause any unfiltered on a root and ended up dumping the bucket materials to r,s,, to the top and form a scum into his boot. which is skimmed off. And as a final ste, :he This year has been a bad one for sap tap - syrup is poured through a fine felt Elite , so pers, as the weather hasn't been co - by the time the whole process • is finished it is operating. The ideal situation is to have crystal clear. about four or five degrees of frost at night, Because there is so much work involved in then a warm day to really get the sap runn- making syrup there are not many families ing. On Wednesday and Thursday the sap who ( -) it as a hobby anymore. For some it is was running well, but in previous weeks the a business, and they use pipelines to' collect temperature just hasn't been high enough the sap and evaporators to boil it down. But during the day. to the Fotheringhams and the Piets it is just But in spite of what the weather looks like a hobby. now, Mr. Fotheringham is hoping to get in a They give away a lot of the syrup, sell couple more good days to gather what he some to about 35-40 customers, and supply it calls "spring tonic" before maple syrup to the Brucefield firemen for their pancake season is over this year." r WORKING THE DIPPER - To keep his sap from boiling over or turning into maple sugar, maple syrup makers have to con- tinually keep adding cooler sap to the boil- ing pot. Corbett photo. "SPRING TONIC" is what Bob Fotheringham, of RR 3 Seaforth, calls Maple syrup, and this bucket of sap -on one of the 300 tapped trees on his property and that of his partner Craig Piet- is dying to be boiled into maple syrup. Corbett photo. k ,' E FIRE BURNING and chopping wood is another of the steady jobs Mr. • Fothe 'las to do during maple syrup season, so he can boil sap into syrup. The sh a • , thr boder is surrounded by piles of wood which will all be consumed this March -provided the sap Is flowing, Corbett photo. STOKING THE FIRE - the Fotheringhams and Piets will burn a lot of wood and coal this March, but will also gain about 50 gallons of maple syrup. Corbett photo. BUCKET EMPTYING is one of the many jobs maple syrup makers have to contend with. Above Mr. Fotheringham empties a sap bucket into the barrel he drags through the bush to strain and collect sap. Corbett photo. Photos and story by Neil Corbett IN THE OLD DAYS they used to collect sap bucket by bucket, but now Mr. Fother- ingham uses a four wheeler to haul a barrel through the bush and collect in as he goes. COMMUNITY CALENDAR If you're organizing a non-profit event of interest to other Seaforth area residents, phone the recreation office at 527-0882 or the Expositor at 527-0240, or mail the Information to Communi- ty Calendar, The Huron Expositor, Box 69. Seaforth, Ontario. NOK IWO well in advance of the scheduled date Space for the Communi:y Calendar is donated bar The Huron Expositor. Wed., March 30 1 - 3 p.m. Moms and Tots 1:30 - 4 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard 6 - 7 p.m. Mites 7 - 8 p.m. Leafs vs Jets Jr. Consol. Final 8 • 9 p.m. Whalers vs Flyers Jr. H.L. Championship Final 9 - 10 p.m. North Stars vs Oilers Sr. Consol. 10 - 11 p.m. Canadians vs Bruins Sr. Championship Final 8 - 10 p.m. Adult Volleyball SYRUP SHANTY - This small shack, located on Craig Piet's pro- inghams for the sole purpose of boiling maple syrup. Corbett perty in RR 3 Seaforth, was built 40 years ago by the Fother- ,hoto. Thurs. March 31 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Tween Ringette 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. Atom II's 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. Men's Broomball Finals Fri. April 1 Atoms Is vs Port Hope: All Ontario Finals Game 1 7 p.m. Figure Skating Ice Show featuring Lloyd Eisler and Isabelle Brasseur 9 p.m. Repeat Show Sat. April 2 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Storey Hour at the Library 2:30 - 4 p.m. Free Public Skating sponsored by the old Genesco Employees Sun. April 3 7:30 - 9 p.m. IHC Finals Game 2 Hawks vs. Flyers Wed., April 6 1_ 3 p.m. Moms and Tots Skating 1:30 - 4 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard -o