the Sugar Bush

I've been to London, Ontario a few times. Yank Thank freshman year, last October... It's a neat little city. I got to stay with Erika for two nights this time, which left us a little more time to explore. I really like travelling with friends who are foodies and locavores, and Erika is one of the best. A pastry chef who's lived in London her entire life and is a regular visitor to the farmer's market. Saturday we went for a late breakfast at the Root Cellar, where I had eggs-in-squash on kale (!). We met up with two of Erika's friends and headed to a visit to the (year round!) farmer's market, and then headed to a Sugar Bush!

Yes, that's a coyote on my head. He's really warm!

Sara, Elliot, Erika and me. Cold but happy!

The horses were taking their lunch break when we arrived, so our crew hiked out into the maple stand for our tour. Over the past few hundred years, methods of boiling the water out of the sap has improved. From hot rocks in a log to stainless steel evaporators, we got to see the entire process.

An early settler's setup

An improved method put the fire in a sort of "rocket stove" 

(not my image)

 It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Loads of maple wood have fired the boilers since the beginning. A spile was driven into a tree if it was big enough to hug, and a bucket collected the sap that drained from the tree. Bigger trees might have two or three buckets. Today, a tubing network connects the trees and gravity (with help from a vacuum pump) pulls the sap to a collection point.

the modern collection system with a vacuum pump

Maple steam!!

Of course, our tour concluded with still-warm maple syrup and pancakes at the lodge!

In the evening, Erika and I hung out with our friend Jenica. The Kuyper Center has a great update on her:

Jenica Update - March 26, 2015Last week, we quietly noted the one year mark since Jenica’s accident. We...
Posted by The Kuyper Centre for Emerging Scholars on Thursday, March 26, 2015