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Spring, 2013 Just as the old saying goes 'Don't count your chickens until all the eggs are hatched', the 2012 maple syrup production season was one for the records! We had our first boil on February 23rd; our earliest boil in 10 years! Then another one occurred before the month end. Therefore once March rolled in, the bush was tapped, maple syrup had already been made, the mechanical kinks all worked out for another season, and we were looking forward to a month of boiling! Well, we never thought the season would be over on March 16th! Never had we seen such warm temperatures so early in March; you just can't make maple syrup when it's 20ºC out! We were in shock! In the past, we actually had five seasons when the first boil hadn't even occurred by March 16th! What did occur though in our 2012 season was one of our largest years in producing Light #1 maple syrup! In sum, by the season's end, despite our production being down, the quality was still excellent. And thankfully due to three previous years being above average in production, the reserve assisted us in keeping our maple store shelves stocked to ensure you still had maple syrup on the table year round! So to say the least, we are hoping for a solid production season for 2013. Bill, as always when in the bush, observes the health of our maple trees. He decided to extend a few feet of pipeline into a section that has not been tapped since before the ice storm. A few feet of pipeline turned into about 4000 feet of mainline, 5000 feet of lateral line to give us an additional 225 taps. A lot of pipeline for a few more taps but it's an area of the bush that is located off the beaten path and it will give us an added few hundred liters of sap to boil this spring! Nothing beats pure maple syrup on pancakes, French toast or as a gift when travelling. Sarah's husband, Jeff, who never liked maple syrup before meeting the Gibbons Family Farm, is now enjoying it in his coffee every morning instead of white sugar. Maple syrup and/or granulated maple sugar is becoming more and more popular as an everyday sweetener. We encourage you to use it as your sweetener for the taste as well as health benefits and hope you enjoy this simple, yet delicious recipe, perhaps even at your Easter dinner this spring:
As always, we invite you to enjoy a pancake breakfast at the St. Thomas Anglican Church Hall in Frankville as well as join us at the sugarhouse for a maple related activity (all details on Events page). And if we don't see each other again this spring, perhaps another time in the year. We are open year round at the sugarhouse. From May to October, we are on site at the Brockville Farmers' Market on Thursdays and Saturdays and at the new Gananoque Farmers' Market on Thursdays from 4 pm to 7 pm. Wishing you a sweet spring!
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Spring, 2012
Spring 2011
Read a Brockville Recorder & Times newspaper article on
the 2012 maple syrup season
41 Leacock Road, RR 1
Frankville, Ontario
K0E 1H0
For more information:
Tel: 613-275-2893
Toll Free 1-877-440-7887
email: mail@gibbonsmaple.com
