It’s Maple Weekend!
It’s Maple Weekend! The first weekend in April is a province-wide celebration of maple as many farmers open their businesses to visitors and offer a range of experiences. Every weekend is Maple Weekend at Fortune Farms as we offer demonstrations, tastings, and woodland experiences and share our property with guests as standard practice!
This year, our local Union Hall Community is hosting a pancake meal at Union Hall (corner of Wolf Grove and Tatlock Roads) on Sunday April 6th. Fortune Farms donates the syrup for this event as this volunteer fundraiser is vital to the operation of Union Hall as a cornerstone in our community. Tickets need to be purchased online in advance – see below for details. Please support our Hall!
The weather last weekend met our expectations for “ghastliness”, and we are fortunate to report that we did not bear the full brunt of the ice storm this time. We had some damage to our pipelines from fallen branches over Sunday and Monday which we were able to locate and repair in a day. We did get a pile of snow however so please wear appropriate clothing and footwear when you visit.
As is often the case following a major low pressure system and a prolonged period of freezing, we had a tremendous flow of sap on Monday, keeping us busy into the early hours of Tuesday. Boiling the heavy run of fresh sap, the colour of the syrup improved significantly and we were just below the golden grade threshold when we were done. Flavour remains excellent and we are hopeful that the quality stays up as the weather warms again.
We also had a visit from CBC Ottawa and who spent the day filming and visiting with us on the maple season and the upcoming election. The segment can be viewed here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/sugar-bush-producers-tap-into-politics-1.7496033
Our store is open daily from 10 to 4 and the demonstrations by the Kettle Boys and Shantymen will be in full operation this weekend. Dress for the weather and come enjoy Maple Weekend with us.