There comes a certain time of the year, when the light shifts and seems lower and paler in the sky, and when the crows can be seen busily flying from tree top to tree top with the great announcements they are spreading over the land, that I begin to be flooded with memories of the awakening earth.

I sense the deep roots of the tall maples opening up their pores once more and beginning to drink deeply of the thawing earth sending sweet maple sap up through their great trunks to feed the tender tips of their branches.

My mind goes back to childhood days spent in maple woods peering deeply into metal sap buckets where they hung on the trees and I recall dipping my finger into the dripping sap and tasting the clear, fresh liquid.

The memory of the awakening earth beneath my feet as evidenced by soft snow and mud patches here and there, reminds me that once again maple syrup time is upon us in southern Ontario, Canada.

Some of my fondest memories are standing in the sugar shack and smelling the sweet steam of the boiling sap mixed with the woodsmoke scent of the burning logs being fed into the old woodstove that heated the syrup pan. There's really nothing like it.
During those times, I felt one with the earth and the glory of Mother nature and all the bounty and beauty she offers up to us as part of her kingdom.

The collecting of maple sap is a late winter tradition that is over a thousand years old. Our Indigenous forefathers (for those of us who are partly descended from Native Americans) used maple sap for a special late winter drink and had developed ways to cook with it and also store it by boiling it down into crystallized sugar.

As Europeans began to colonize North America, the history of maple syrup took many turns as the white man adapted their own inventions and technology to the collecting and boiling down of maple sap.

Maple syrup time in the Quinte-Prince Edward County-Northumberland areas generally runs, depending on the weather, from late February to late March. The sap begins to run when the daytime temperatures are above freezing.

The best 'runs' are when the nights are frosty and the days are warmer and sunny.

40 Litres of maple sap are needed to make 1 Litre of maple syrup and there are mainly two types of maple trees which give sap that is suitable for making into maple syrup.
One of them, the Sugar Maple, is only found in North America. The other maple suitable for syrup production is the Black Maple.

A maple tree needs to be approximately 40 years old or at least 10 inches in diametre before it can be tapped for maple sap. (Watercolour Painting 'Maple Leaves' by Joyce Empey Smith of Belleville)

There are numerous festivals throughout Ontario during maple syrup time and two of the very best can be found right here in the Quinte region.
Warkworth, in the Trent Hills is holding it's annual Warkworth Maple Syrup Festival this weekend, March 8th and 9th.

Don't miss this memorable family event that draws thousands of visitors from near and far every year.
When visiting the festival this weekend, make sure to take in:

• Art Show and Sales
  
  
• Antiques Show and Sale
  
  
• Mini Golf (indoors)
  
  
• Pony Rides and Petting Farm
  
  
• Craft Show and Sales
  
  
• Great food served at numerous locations
  
  
• Fine village shopping~Warkworth, Ontario
  
  
• Free Shuttle Bus to the Sandy Flat Sugar Bush (admission to the Sugar Bush is $4 for adults, children are free)
  
  
• Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides through the sugar bush
  
  
• Taffy on Snow tasting
  
  
• Sap making Demonstrations and museum
  
  
• Nature Trails
  
  
• Contests~ Log sawing, three person plank race, snowshoe competition
  
  
• Entertainment with The Potter Band, Heartland Band, Step Dancers, Percy Swingers Square Dancers, Quinte Bay Cloggers, Touch of Class Cloggers
  
  
• A delicious traditional home cooked meal of piled high Pancakes, Sausages and Pure Ontario award winning maple syrup~ Adults $7, Children $3.

If you're unable to make the festival in Warkworth this weekend, at the end of March the award winning Maple in the County will be taking place in Prince Edward County.
For an awesome list of events that you can attend, make sure and check out this schedule of venues and what each is offering.

Some sites that may interest you:

OntarioMaple.com

OntarioMapleSyrup.com

Maple Syrup Recipes

Nothing can compare to pure maple syrup and Ontario is one of the best places in north america to visit during this annual event.
I hope you get to visit one of our local festivals and take home some maple syrup and other delectable maple delights to savour until maple syrup time arrives again next year!

©2008JoSmith