DCMA welcomes spring with ‘Maple Syrup Festival’

March 25, 2015 · 0 Comments

Last week, during March Break, the Dufferin County Museum & Archives (DCMA) held its annual ‘Maple Syrup Festival’ – welcoming spring, and honouring the “flow of things”.
Participants of the event were invited to explore the history and science of making maple syrup by visiting six learning stations, set up inside the museum and outside, in the sugar bush.
The event, aimed at allowing residents to discover how Dufferin County pioneers made syrup and how it is produced today, was very well attended.
Maple syrup related games, crafts, and storybooks were on hand to browse through, and maple fudge was available to sample just outside of the museum’s Tea Room.
The six stations included:
1. The Tree. Participants were encouraged to “find out how to identify the sugar maple tree” – as making maple syrup starts with the sugar maple trees. It has the most sugar in its sap of any tree.
2. Start of the season. The passport challenge: “to learn how to tap a maple to harvest its sap”. When the sugaring season starts, it is time to tap the tree. It needs to be done right so the tree does not get hurt.
3. Collecting the sap. “Find out how sap was collected by pioneers and how it is collected today”. Collecting sap is hard work. Sometimes buckets have to be empties two or three times a day. It is important not to waste a drop of sap.
4. Tools required. The passprot challenge: “Find out what tools pioneers and First Nations used to boil sap into syrup”. When sap arrives at the sugar camp or sugar shack, it is time to bring it to a boil. Heating up the sap takes away water and leaves behind a liquid with more sugar.
5. Bottling. “Find out how maple syrup is classified in Ontario. When sap has been turned into syrup it is ready to be graded, bottled, labeled and sold. Real maple syrup will say “pure” on the bottle.
6. Maple Sugar. “Find our how maple sugar is made”. Pioneers liked to make maple sugar because it would keep longer than syrup and was easy to transport for sale.
Once participants finished visiting the indoor stations, they were welcomed to head outside to the sugar bush and watch sap turn to syrup in the cauldron and enjoy a delicious maple taffy treat. Yum!

By Wendy Gabrek