Maple syrup and more
An hour's drive east from Ottawa, Ontario is Fulton's Sugar Bush. This is a sugar shack. From February to April you can experience how the sap of the sugar maple trees is boiled down to maple syrup. There are many interesting things to discover about maple syrup production.
If you want to experience such things in Ontario not just as a day trip, but closer to the country itself, a Farm Stay in Ontario They would fit well with your trip.
A Sugar Shack in the middle of the forest
The farm isn't easy to find. Even our GPS gives up when we type in the address – 291 Concession Road 6. Only a question mark appears on the display. But thankfully, there's Google.
Well-equipped with the directions on Fulton's website, the Google map and route description, and the help of our GPS, we finally found our way to the Fulton family's maple forest. If we hadn't had the precise directions from Fulton's Sugar Shack website, we would never have arrived.
We travel through remote villages.
The journey takes us through small villages and past isolated farms, which become increasingly rare as we approach the Fultons' maple forest. The last few kilometers are on wet, unpaved roads, so damp in places that I don't want to get out of the car. I don't want to get stuck knee-deep in mud.
The first cabin we come across, prominently displaying the name Fulton's, is surrounded by damp mud left behind by the melting snow. Thankfully, the owner immediately comes to meet us and directs us a few hundred meters further to a large, gravel-covered parking area in front of the Fultons' Sugar Bush, where we can leave our car without getting wet.
We learn more about maple syrup at Fulton's Sugar Shack
Here – in the middle of the forest – stands a large wooden hut, steaming and smoking from it. This indicates that the sap from the surrounding maple trees is currently flowing and being boiled down into syrup. A vast network of thick and thin rubber hoses crisscrosses this maple forest.
As soon as the first thaws begin in spring, the boreholes are drilled into the trees, only a certain number per tree depending on the thickness of the trunk, so that it can continue to supply its sweet sap for years to come.
On days when the thermometer rises above zero degrees, it drives the sap to the upper parts of the tree, and it drips slowly but steadily through the inserted hoses, through which it is directed to the collection tanks in the sugar shack.
Experience how maple syrup is made
That's exactly what we were looking for. We want to experience for ourselves how the sap of the trees ultimately becomes what tastes so delicious. PfannkuchenFruit or pastries. And yet, juice is healthy. Sweets healthy? Is that even possible? Absolutely!
The sugar used by the indigenous people is one of the healthiest sweeteners. It consists primarily of sucrose. Other components include malic acid, minerals, phenolic compounds, amine compounds, and vitamins.
Harvesting maple sap
I had visited other maple syrup farms before and taken tours, but never during harvest time. I was familiar with the method of extracting the sap from the tree. A hole is drilled into the trunk and a metal valve is inserted. The farmer then hangs a bucket from the valve to collect the sap.
He then painstakingly collects the sap in tubs or barrels. Horse-drawn carts transport it along muddy paths to the sugar shack. It's strenuous work, and you really have to love eating maple syrup to be willing to do it.
Today's harvesting methods
Today, the sap is collected more conveniently. This method is only visible when the sap is actually flowing. Then the farmer lays a network of plastic tubes between the maple trees. The sap flows through this network directly into the sugar camp.
The principle is not very different from the method of collecting sap. Here, too, holes are drilled into the trunk. However, instead of a valve, a hose is attached to the tree, which connects to other hoses leading to an even thicker hose. This thicker hose transports the sap directly into the pot in the sugar hut.
In spring, the sugar maple forests are crisscrossed with a network of pitchers. At the sugar shack, the sap is first cleaned of impurities. Then it is boiled in a vat until it is concentrated and has the desired sweetness.
Products made from the sap of the maple trees
For four generations, the Fultons have been producing maple syrup, a staple on every Canadian breakfast table. They also create other delicacies that contribute to overall well-being: maple leaf-shaped caramel candies and maple syrup jams flavored with various berries that grow in the region.
But that's not why they're here this time. The Fultons are resourceful and have been testing what they can do with the coarse residue left over from syrup production.
They discovered that this can be a wonderful way to promote external well-being, using cosmetic products that exfoliate dead skin cells. These products gently cleanse and nourish the skin at the same time.
The Indians were already familiar with candies made from maple syrup. They poured the juice on the snow and made lollipops with wooden sticks. Today they just look a little different.
Care series made from maple syrup
New is the skincare line made from the byproducts of the syrup sap. This results in skincare products that smell wonderful. During the filtration process of the tree sap, substances remain that the sap already carries within the tree. These particles were previously considered waste and discarded. Not so at Fultons.
The farm's owner, Shirley Fulton-Deugo, comes from a family that has always been very business-minded. She was familiar with spa products made from honey, fruits, or vegetables. Therefore, she thought, why shouldn't the same be possible with maple syrup?
Do it yourself
Said and done. She read books and learned what these toiletries are made of and how to mix them. Then it was her family's turn. Each member had to try her test creams and scrubs for a year. Her daughter told me that there were even times when she applied a test version of the cream to one side of the calf and a second to the other - to see which one worked better.
This process resulted in a line of maple syrup spa products. Wellness temples in Canada have discovered them. More and more use the care products that actually consist of the waste from the maple syrup production. I can understand why. The effect is phenomenal.
Well-being for the hands with maple products
We also want to test the products and so we dip our hands into lukewarm water. Afterwards, the current owner's daughter scrubs our hands with an exfoliating cream made from the waste product of maple syrup production.
The rough cream scrubs away skin impurities like sand. Then she moisturizes our hands with a lotion that is also made from maple syrup.
A scent of maple syrup
After that, I can't stop smelling my hands. They smell delicious all day long of the sweet aroma of the syrup, which I usually only get to enjoy at breakfast.
I was so impressed that I immediately bought another lip balm from their cosmetics line. And so, for the rest of our trip, I wandered through Canada with the delicious taste of maple syrup on my lips and hands. A true wellness experience that you can enjoy in person from mid-February to the second half of April.
Fulton's Pancake House and Sugar Bush
399 Sugar Bush Rd.
Pakenham, Ontario
Canada K0A 2X0
Tel: 613-256-3867
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.fultons.ca/
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Source of maple syrup production: On-site research with the support of Tourism Ontario and Tourism Ottawa. We are very grateful for their assistance. However, our opinion remains our own, as always.
Text maple syrup production: © Copyright Monika Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline
Photos: © Copyright Monika Fuchs as well as TravelWorldOnline and Pixabay
Video: © Copyright Petar Fuchs and TravelWorldOnline