Sugar Bush - Agape Valley.

We were also privileged to be able to see a Maple Syrup Farm operating! We stayed the second half of the week with another family who we had a lot to do with over the summer we were in Wellandport. More on that in another post :). Pam and Ken took us out to a Maple Syrup Farm, called Sugar Bush in Agape Valley, who use their resources (i.e. maple trees) and grounds as an outreach! Here is a link for you to find out more if you would like: Agape Valley. Such a cool idea! Over summer Michaela and Grace joined Pam and Ken's girls for a day at a summer outreach camp Agape Valley runs. The farm/camp is run by a lot of volunteers which is pretty awesome! 

The 'old' methods of collecting the sap.
(I actually bought a bucket in the shop as a souvenir)

Enjoying a lovely breakfast!

Getting a ride on the farm to the Maple Trees

A lovely volunteer explaining to us the process :)

WOW! Isn't that amazing?

Running sap

A more modern sophisticated system.
The sap is gravity fed to the factory

Can you see the sap running?

If you look carefully you will be able to see all the lines

The guide explained to us how Maple Syrup used to be made

Yes it was cold that day :)

A more modern system. The sap is transferred progressively up
the vats until it reaches the syrup stage

Maple Syrup Candy
(Reminded us of the Little House on the Prairie books!)
Tasted very good!

This is a reverse osmosis machine
that takes out a lot of the water from the sap.

This is where the final boiling down of the sap occurs.
Once it reaches a certain temperate it opens a valve to release the Maple Syrup!

I happened to be there at the right time with the camera
to take a photo of the Syrup being finished!

A guide showing the girls the different colours of Maple Syrup.
The Syrup has to match one of the five test bottles.
The colour also depends on how late in the season it is.
The Syrup starts out light and progressively gets darker
towards the end of the season.

Grace, Kate and Zara

Checking the colour of the Syrup

Look at this beautiful display. I didn't buy anything as we knew we
were very limited in what we could take back in our suitcases.

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about how Maple Syrup is made. As I said before, we didn't go to Canada at that particular time to see Maple Syrup being made, but it was a HUGE bonus!