Monday, March 01, 2010

A Sweet Sign of Spring


One sure sign of spring on the Bay of Fundy is the beginning of the maple sugar season. Rain and warmer daytime temperatures in recent days mean that the sap is now flowing.

Every spring, maple producers in our region journey into their sugar woods to collect sap from maple trees. Sap is a clear liquid and tastes like fresh spring water. However, once it's boiled, sap takes on its distinctive maple flavour.

There are many family owned & operated maple sugar camps around the upper part of the Bay of Fundy (see posts from previous years about our family's camp) but one that really stands out is Sugar Moon Farm in Earltown (near Truro, NS).

This family has successfully transformed the 6-8 week long maple season into a year round experience with demonstrations, a log cabin restaurant, sugar camp tours & interpretative programming, sugar bush hiking trails, maple products for sale and even guest Chefs' Nights featuring a maple dining extravaganza with the province's finest chefs!! They are also a member of the Atlantic Economusee Network of artisans who celebrate and share traditional crafts or trades.

It's great to have this sugar farm in operation year round. As you might expect, we don't get many tourists visiting Bay of Fundy in early March so with Sugar Moon Farm even our summer and fall visitors can get a glimpse of this important part of our heritage! Maple syrup FAQs.

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