It's Sap Season

All Things Maple

It’s no surprise that Canadians produce and consume Maple Syrup by the gallon. We use it in desserts, salad dressings, BBQ sauce and you can drench almost every breakfast food in it for a naturally sweet flavour. Some even enjoy it on its own, poured over snow!

Elliot Tree Farm

Elliott Tree Farm is a circa 1890 family Christmas tree and maple syrup farm located just 6km north of the scenic village of Hillsburgh. 

This year, make a day of it! Join for the 2023 maple syrup harvest and experience the sugar bush firsthand on Saturdays and Sunday’s February 25 through April 9. Your new and improved maple experience begins with our famous pancake breakfast/brunch inside our NEW warm dining experience, our Horse Barn Canteen! Followed with the history of maple syrup and tasting in our tree cellar. Enjoy our award winning, small batch maple syrup. Afterwards you can take the 10 -minute sugarbush trail walk to enjoy the sugarbush experience while checking sap buckets and visiting the sugar shack. It is a 10-minute trail walk from the Heritage Barn for the sugarbush experience.

Happening every weekend from February 25 through April 9. Six booking times available from 9:00am - 2:00pm Pre-book online. *Hot chocolate, maple candy, pure maple syrup and gifts available at the Heritage Barn. **Cash only

9467 Erin East Garafraxa Townline, Hillsburgh, Ontario  |  519.216.0699  |  www.elliotttreefarm.ca

Heartwood Farm and Cidery

Set amidst the rolling hills and meandering rivers near the Village of Erin, Heartwood Farm and Cidery is a diverse 42-acre ecosystem of mixed pasture, fruit and nut orchards, woods and wetlands. They are dedicated to regenerative agriculture practices that produce healthy soils, sustainable water and nutrient cycles, contented animals, wholesome food for their community and valuable habitat for wildlife and pollinators.

Curious to know a bit more about the art and science of the sugar bush? Book your tickets for their Sugarbush Experience. Visit Heartwood to revel in the tradition of transforming this gift from the trees into a sweet taste of spring. To keep the experience intimate, Val and the team will be guiding small-group (max 10-12), one-hour sugarbush immersions throughout the maple sap season.

  • Enjoy a complimentary mug of “sweet maple tea” right from the evaporator.
  • Gather around the woodfire to learn all about the art and science of this craft
  • Follow the sapline path, and “forest bathe” among the maples
  • Visit our farm store and get an introduction to our artisanal ciders -- featuring a sweet touch of maple syrup -- crafted here in our on-farm cidery.

Tickets must be purchased in advance.

5438 Second Line, Erin, Ontario  |  416.527.4432  |  www.heartwoodfarm.ca

Snyder Heritage Farm

Snyder Heritage Farms is located in Breslau Ontario right on Maple Bend Road. Kevin and Anne Snyder are 5th generation farmers; their farm has been producing maple syrup for over 100 years.

Sustainable Practices - Kevin and Anne use only wood from their own forest to cook the sap (no fuel oil is used) and the wood lots are managed according to sustainable forest management guidelines and practices. They harvest a few trees every year, but only when the ground is frozen to reduce damage to the woodlot ecosystem.

There are no preservatives or fillers used to make Snyder syrup, only pure maple sap and water. In addition to their maple syrup, Snyder Heritage Farms produces turkeys, sweet corn and lots of fresh produce, all GMO free.

Visit their store on Fridays 9:00 am - 7:00 pm or Saturdays 9:00 am - 5:00 pm. Closed Sundays.

1213 Maple Bend Rd., RR 1, Breslau, Ontario  |  519.741.1447  |  www.snyderheritagefarms.com

Mapleton Maple Syrup

A family owned business priding themselves on quality. They make their own Maple Syrup, with 3000 trees tapped locally. Using latest technology in grading, their maple syrup is produced using a 12 stage filtration system prior to bottling. Their products are available at the farm. Taste the difference.

8190 Concession 12, Drayton, Ontario  |  519.638.2575  |  www.mapletonmaplesyrup.com

Yungblut Maples

Their "Sugar Shack" is located in 14 acres of maple bush, located between Palmerston and Harriston. They have an impressive 1300 taps hooked to a pipeline system. A forced air, wood fired evaporator is used to boil the sap. Collecting and boiling maple sap during the spring is their passion.

Head over and see how maple syrup is produced! Maple Syrup, Maple Butter, Maple Sugar, Maple Candy, Maple lollipops, Customized gift baskets to order.

8936 Wellington Rd. 5, Palmerston, Ontario  |  519.353.8020  |  Visit their Facebook Page

 Other Maple Producers in Wellington County
Recipes and more

Often referred to as the first agricultural crop of the year, maple syrup is made from the sap of primarily sugar, red and black maple trees in late winter and early spring. Maple syrup is a completely natural product with no additives. It is chock full of minerals and plant proteins. Research is currently underway to determine how this natural sweetener and flavour enhancing product can benefit human health.

Discover various tasty maple products, delicious recipes and local producers in Wellington County at www.ontariomaple.com

Events

Maple Weekend 

Hosted by The Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association during the first weekend in April; Maple Weekend gives you the opportunity to tour sap productions and see how local maple products are produced from tree to table. And maybe sneak in a pancake or two…

A map of the local sugar producers participating in Maple Weekend can be found here.

Annual Elmira Maple Syrup Festival

The first Elmira Maple Syrup festival in 1965 drew a crowd of more than 10,000 people and it has been growing ever since! It has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the World’s Largest Single Day Maple Syrup Festival.

Expect sugar bush tours, antique shows, craft sales and a popular outdoor mall featuring local arts and crafts and outrageously indulgent food, such as deep-fried Mars bars, maple burgers and sausages, potato torpedoes and funnel cakes.

The festival has been able to raise over $50,000 for local community groups.

For more information on the Festival, view their website.

Maple Sap and Indigenous Cultures

Thank you to the County of Wellington’s Indigenous Advisory Committee for the following contribution.

Welcoming Spring

March 20, 2023 marks the Spring Equinox, when we start to emerge from long winter nights. In the medicine wheel teachings this is a time of new beginnings, sunrises and more light as our days start to get a little longer. Planting seeds, both actual seeds and ideas that turn into action. Some feel a renewed energy after the long winter.

This is also a time when maple sap starts to run. Canada is known throughout the world for our maple syrup, yet many don’t know it has its roots in Indigenous cultures. As there are several Anishinaabeg members on the Indigenous Advisory Committee, the following are teachings of the Anishinaabe peoples, including the use of some Anishinaabemowin language.

Ziinzibaakwadwaaboo (Maple Sap) Teachings

Traditionally maple sap was gathered with birch baskets under maple trees then consumed as medicine and boiled down to make both syrup and sugar, which was used during the year to season foods and preserve meat. Visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVuyoDmFFGM to watch a video of Caleb Musgrave demonstrating the traditional Anishinaabe way to gather maple sap. Ziinzibaakwadwaaboo (maple sap) or ziisbaakwadaaboo (sugar water) is so important that the fourth moon of the year (late March-April) is named for it. Different communities know this moon by different names. These are just a few: Izhkigamisegi Geezis (the Moon of Boiling), Iskigamizige-giizis (Sugarbushing Moon), and Ziinzibaakwadoke-giizis (Sugaring Moon).

“In my teachings, once the ziinzibaakwadwaaboo begins to flow in the spring it is consumed in its raw form for 28 days. Drinking one ounce of pure ziinzibaakwadwaaboo a day is said to be cleansing medicine, full of the antioxidants, vitamins and minerals needed to revitalize the body from the long winter. Ziinzibaakwadwaaboo is believed to have anti-inflammatory properties, so some Nish drink it for their arthritis or other inflammatory conditions.” ~ Amber (Naawayaa

© 2023 County of Wellington, 74 Woolwich St. Guelph, Ontario N1H 3T9, T 519.837.2600, TF 1.800.663.0750, F 519.837.1909