Photo Deborah Carew. Mark Carew checking a sap bucket.
Driving the roads of Cavan this month you may see what looks like smoke rising above the tree in a woodlot, please don’t call the fire department!
It is likely steam rising from the boiling of maple sap in the process of making Maple Syrup. Maple syrup is the culmination of many hours of work which will have begun on pleasant days in January when fallen limbs of trees were removed from the damaged sap lines, repairs of the lines chewed by squirrels or flattened by bored turkeys, lines repaired or replaced and the necessary wood supply brought in.
Late February means constantly watching the weather when the temperature is just above freezing most of the tapping is completed.
Cavan is fortunate to have a number of significant maple syrup producers, some who have been making maple syrup for seven generations since arriving in the early 1800’s. Maple producers have a vested interest in maintaining healthy woodlots for the benefit of everyone!
Again this spring on Sunday April 5 a number of local producers some long time, some relatively new producers and some outside the boundaries of Cavan Monaghan will be opening their sugar houses and inviting everyone to experience the making of maple syrup. Venture out to meet your neighbours and enjoy some of the natural beauty of this great community and the first crop of the season!
