Maple Town opens in Mountsberg with 300 trees tapped for syrup

The fluctuation in temperatures this time of year has the tree tapping crew at Mountsberg Conservation Area excited for a new season.

Today marks the first day Maple Town is open to the public to learn the traditional ways of making maple syrup.

There are 300 trees tapped for sap at Mountsberg Conservation Area. The process takes about a week by the time it can be bottled to buy. Only the sweetest trees are chosen.

“We only tap sugar maples here because they give us the sweetest sap, so that makes the sweetest syrup. But you can tap any tree and try and make sugar out of it, it just won’t be very sweet,” said Keri Schinck, environment education coordinator with Conservation Halton.

“What you want is a nice warm day and a very cold night,” said Tom Trotter, sugar maker with Conservation Halton.

Once the sap is collected in buckets, it goes in the sap collection drum. On day one, it’s already up to 1,000 litres.

“Ideally it would be 5 C in the morning and afternoon, -5 C in the evening. That allows for the sap to move from the roots up to the trees and then down again,” said Trotter.

From sap collection to a silver contraption referred to as a boiling pan, the fire from underneath heats the sap and boils off the water. This is why it takes 40 litres of sap to make one litre of maple syrup.

“The top number will rise to 219. When both numbers are the same, the computer opens up and out pours maple syrup,” said Trotter.

Maple Town runs until Easter weekend this year, so you have lots of time to check it out and have a taste yourself.

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