The Huron Expositor, 1979-04-05, Page 7OH,, SMELL, THAT SYRUP -These St',. 0014M -
ban students are watching gallons of sap bubble
away in a large evaporator inside the sugar
shack at the MCVA'S' sugar bush. The . smell
St. CoIu
BY ALICE GMBB,
As any connoisseur of goad food will tell
. you, there's nothing quite as tempting as a
heaping mound of warm pancakes,
'smothered in delicate maple syrup. The:
syrup, one of the .joys of apring„ can be
mixed' with plain yogurt, :brushed- on pork
chops or used to: sweeten your morning
cereal.
But beforrethe_ syrup •appears bn your:
.table'.-:therels a long process-to_extracting,
the sugary substance from the maplesap:
which starts flowing` when milder spring
temperatures arrive.
On Friday morning, .students from St,.
Columban School, -had a chance to learn
about the transformation from sap to syrup
firsthand when they visited the Maple
' Keys Sugar Bush, just a fewchiles outside
Ethel.
The sugar bush, which isoperating for
only :the second year, . is part of, the:
Maitland .Valley Conservation Authority
(MCVA) lands. This year, by the time the
sap acquires a "buddy" taste and the,. tree
buds appear, •over 1,000 people will have
toured the 22 acre sugar bush. Charlene
Gordon. one of the guides working at the
site, said over 650.of:the visitors have been
schoolchildren, taking a firsthand look, at'
the syrup -making techniques they study in
class. The other visitors are members of
the .public who, drop by the site. wander
through and
see the steps it takes to.
produce one gallon of syrup from 30: to 40
gallons of "maple sap.
Ms. Gordon said as the MCVA develops
the site further and has better parking
facif tics to offer, thcy•Wil I.encourage even.
more visitors to drop by. •
EARLY SEASON
This year. the sap started running even;
earlier than usual. Sap begins to flow when
the- nights are ;freezing and daytitne
inside the shack is sweet and. syrupy and; at the
end of the tour, studentssampled solve of the
delicious product produced at Maple Keys.
(Expositor photo)
1C1'SU_'
an
temperatures are above 8 degrees C. Jack
Hovius, another worker at the site, said
this spring the sugar maple trees; in then
conservation area were tapped by the end:,
ofFebruary and enough sap had been
collected by the end. Of the first week in
March 'to start boiling. it down ;to maple;'
syrup. The staff at the site expects the sap
flow will last only another weekend. School
tours at the site ended on Friday:
_-_StfColumbatt students, w41to have been
studying syrup making for some time,
didn't let Friday's. rain.. dampen, their
spirits --they simply took Charlene Gor-
don's advice to -just follow. the muddy
footprints, you can't get lost.
Although the prime purpose. of Maple
Keys is to teach, how maple syrup isntade. •
;today;.compared to the past. the site is also •
used .:as a"• nature trail in, the summer, so
Students picked up some additional nature
lore. .ext route;—how to identify trees.
forestry management'practiees, and how to
tell a • woodpecker hole.
One of the first things Ms. Gordon
showed students was how to use: a. brace
and; bit to tap a tree. Sugar maples smaller
than:: 10 inches 'in diameter shouldn't be
tapped until 'they are more• Mature, but
large maples, over 25 inches in diameter.'
can support: upto four tapholes.. '
Although the brace and bit method of
inserting plastic spiles was popular with`
the students,- Ms. Gordon_ said today most
sapping is done with an•electric drill. The
MCVA staff lapped the maples on the. 22
acre site in less than two days this spring.
using the more modern method. After: the
hole is tapped, a germicidal pellet is placed
in the hole to destroy the bacteria which.
can build up and reduce sap flow. Then the
spile is inserted, and pails are hung from.
the hook underneath.
Ms. Gordon told ld. the studentstrees _ •
o are..
•
.
IS THAT SNAKE .. REAL?
There were some startled St.
Columban students when they
discovered this garter snake sun
ning himself on a log at the
Maple Keys Sugar Bush on
Friday. However,'it-turned out
the snake was a victim of --an
accident, and the conservation
authority stanff had placed his
body on the log just to add . an
1.
extra dash of excitement to
the maple syrup tour.
•
(Expositor 'photo)
THE HURON Ei(POSiT R, AF`R1i.. 5,
THE OLD BRACE AND SIT TRICK, --Charlene
Gordon, a guide on the mdPie syrup tour,
demonstrates how to tap a tree with a brace and
bit during the: St, Cbiumban tour of Maple Keys
Sugar Bush. (Expositor photo)
'Sop:s r -n i
usually tapped at about. an adult's breast
height. The next year, if the same tree is.
tapped, the: drill 'holes must begat least
three inches away from each other ot the
tree can be permanently, damaged.
• PIPELINES
Now although ' -many maple syrup'
producers still use pails to collect their sap,
plastic pipelines have been` found tobe
more sanitary and efficient, The lines can
be gravityzoperated, so_-that=the-sap simply
flows downhill to collecting tanks located in
hollows of a woodiot or the lines can be
attached .to a vaeuun pump. With, this
'method, the sap • is sucked through .the
tubes and . into tanks... This method
encourages sap flow even on cold days
when temperatures fall well •.below the 8
degree C mark.
Now while • the St.. Columban students
were impressed with the modern . sap-
gathering 'methods,the more elementary
techniques of boiling down the syrup were
obviously the most popular.
The Indians 'were the Afirst`. Nort
Americans to° discover :thesweeteningg
qualities of maple lesapand the de ended'
P Y . p
on the annual springtime harvest to supply,
their sugar needs for therestof`the year.
Ms. Gordons told the students that . since
Indians • in this area lived in longhouses
during the year, they • would build
small -teepee -like structures of pine boughs-
for
oughsfor shelter in the woods when. they
harvested the sap. The natives used
hollowed out "tree trunks to hold the.,sap
and then dropped hot stones in ;to,
evaporate the water. Although the method
worked, it wasn't the most sanitary since
smoke and ashes from, the: fire also mired.
with the sap.
Jack Hovius said': the stones dropped°into.
the sap often crack on impact, sometnpes
even exploding on impact,; so guides h' ue.
to demonstrate the technique rather than
letting the students try it firsthand.
A special' thrill for the St. Columban
students was the large garter snake which.
appeared to be sunning himself on the log.
beside the Indian's fire. The snake, it
turned out, wasquite' dead but was real
enough to cause an exclamation from a
number_ of the students and teachers:
PIONEER METHOD--
The second traditional~ method . of
syrup -making demonstrated .at . `Maple
Keys was the pioneers' method`of boiling,
the sap in huge black iron kettles over aft
open' fire: Often the pioneer used 'a
multiple kettle system .with.the thickening
sap being transferred progressively -from
r
9
bush
pot to pot until it became syrup in the last
kettle.
• The second last stopon the St.
Columban tour was the sugar shack where.
MCVA staff member Jim Walsh demon-
strated the modern, method of boiling
in a large evaporator unit, which has a flue
and syrup pans and a hood to funnel the
steam outside. Heat is still provided by.
wood burning 'in the bottom section, and
the unit is-sloped--to--encourage flow from
the flue (sap) pan to the syrup pan. Tho
evaporator unit boils 600 gallons of sap in
eight hoursto produce 13 gallons of syrup,
The .final step in the syrup -making
process occurs when the sap is nearly.
syrup. Then it's drawn off the evaporator
and finished: in a gas -heated pan which
providesa more controlled' heat. When the
sap measures 65 per cent sugar, it 'is
officially maple syrup—ready to . be
strained and stored.. Fortunately, not all,
thew. le Keys Sugar Bush syrup has to be.
stored anyone completing the tour gets a
sample of the freshly m
adetreat
and
,,,student are given; -a more generous
' sample to take home so they ,can sample it
'On pancakes or biscuits back 'at the school.
Jack Hovius told the students that since
local producers didn't feel it was fair for
the MCVA staff' to sell the syrup and •
compete with them, the Maple Keys ;syrup
left at the end of the season is sold in bulk
outside the watershed area,'
Although guides like Charlene_ Gordon
• staff the ; sugar bush site, the teachers.
•accompanying -the school tours are encour-
aged to take their students around the
trails themselves. To assist the teachers in ,
preparing for .the tour,: the MCVA staff
have prepared' a; detailed 'informations
manual and this year, hosted a special
orientation day . when the teachers could
come and tour the site.
The Maple. Keys conservation site
however,. isn't open just during the syrup-.
season. in the winter, skiers are invited to
use the trails and in the summer' months;
the 100 acre site's nature trails are opened
to the public. The onlyunwelcome visitors
• are snowmobilers who run the risk of
becoming entangled in the plastic pipelines
which run between trees on the site,
In 1978, the Maple Keys Sugar Bush
produced 200 gallons of good quality maple
syrup. But more importantly, the site also
• let: area residents experience the joys of
syruprnaking firsthand. As this. reporter.
can 'verify, there's "nothing quite like the •
smokey maple aroma wafting through the •
woods to remind'. you of the ,bounty of
nature:
•
•
PEEK-A-BQO—Robbie Sloan, pupil ata St.
Columban School, ,piEteks Out through a wIndow
in the pine bough teepee constructed at the
Maple Keys Sugar Bush outside Ethel, Indians
built similar shelters in the wood many years:
ago during the spring season when they were
ha(vesting sap in the forest', (Expt sitor photo)
BACK TO NATURE—Despite Friday morn-
ing's damp weather, the students. from St.
Columban School discovered the joys of nature
on their tour of the Maitland Valley Conversa-
tion Authority's sugar bush, outside the hamlet,
of Ethel. Students overlooked the mud • as 'the ,,
> y
saw first hand demonstrations of the way maple.
syrup was produced in the days of the Indians to
the modern evaporator method used today.
(Expositor photo)
pctety
• pin shy►*
'D.te Huron County Unit'0
the Canadian Caneer SocietY
is sponsoring a gala fashio k
show Wednesday, April 25 in
:the Exeter arena.
CFPL commentator Bili
Brady will be m c. and the
•
Show's• professional models
will wear clothes from Merry
Rags tique of Grand
Bendy
David Shepherd, Grand
Bend,,. will be organist.
James Murphy of Hawn.
Country Playhouse will pro. -
vide lighting and Marie
Homans of Southcott Pines
will be choreoaranher.
The show starts at 8:30,
following a social hour; Tick-
ets are available • from the
Cancer Society office in Clin-
ton, Sheila Lancaster in
Wingham, Pat Troutbeck in
Seaforth, Jean Ginn in
Goderich and LaurieSbapton
in Exeter. '
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outfit them all -
Agriculiural
Societies
hast' big
card party
A large turnout enjoyeda
cardparty held at Brodhagen
last Thursday sponsored by
the Association of.
Agricultural Societies for
Huron and Perth Counties.
The prize winners were:,•
High, Man Y Bill Westman,
Milverton; Low Man Keith
McLagan, Mitchell; Most •
Lone Hands (Men) -.'Dalton;
Malcolm. Mitchell; '°High
Lady _ Mrs, Emerson --Dill, --_,_
Stratfordd; Low Lady Joy
Kane, Mitchell; Most Lone
Hands (Lady) - Mrs. Roy
Pepper; Exeter; Luck y Cup -
Ruby Dunseith, St. Marys;
Lucky Card -.:Emerton: Dill,
Stratford.
Police report
quiet weekend
The Seaforth reported a
quiet weekend after a busy
month which saw the force
responding to 161 occurren-
ces.
Chief John Cairns reported
that the officers answered 21
vandalism, complaints in
March, 14 disturbance coin -
plaints and recovered $1,200
worth of stolen property.
They also found 14 busi
ness premises left unlocked
after store hours during the > .
month.
The department .also •iss-
ued :.64 parking tickets in
March.
Constable Peter Van Meek:.:.:..
eren completed the first
segment', of his training
course at ,Aylmer . Police
College and finished above
the class average in every
subject:
Chief Cairns said the radio
dispatch system wilt be instal-
led in the Seaforth office this
week .:and the new county-
wide dispatch, service ' is
scheduled to be in, Operation.
by Sunday, April "8. -
The only incident. ;police'
reported on the weekend was
a hit and run accident which
damaged the frame around a .
window at Anstett Jewellers
Ltd. The incident is still
under investigation.
VISI44
.Luxurious J.P.Stfvens'
11 bath towel, 1 hand towel , .l fa cloth
Bath Towel Sets SAeths,i' $18 Reg: 25.00
Spec ally priced for her at Easter!
:schen 13x.
Seaforth.
OF FASHIONS
Dresses
c n'tsu its
Jumpsuit$ .
Separates
Hansel fr Grete
rhe • Cornet Cottage for Children's Wear
Mon. -Sat. 9-6: 'Blyth
Closed Wednesday 523-9613