March is high season for maple syrup festivals in Ontario. And Maplefest, which has taken place for over twenty years in the Kawarthas, is one of them. Maplefest, which is held at McLean Berry Farm, just outside of Buckhorn, runs on the following weekends in 2014:

• Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March 16 Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March 23 Saturday, March 29 and Sunday, March 30

You’ll enjoy these activities, which are included in your entrance fee:

• Tour the sugar bush on your own by foot
• Watch demonstrations and learn how maple syrup and maple sugar are made (see how trees are tapped for maple syrup and how sap is boiled down in a large evaporator)
• Experience the novelty of twirling toffee on snow, and then taste the rich, sticky concoction (if snow is available)
• Listen to live country music in the heated market • learn about farming techniques of the past through pioneer displays
• Witness the snow cannon in action (if snow is available)
• Get acquainted with the friendly farm animals on the property
• Frolic in a large pile of fresh straw
• Strap on a pair of snowshoes and trek through the sugar bush
• Try your hand at tapping a maple tree
• Test your strength and try sawing through a log
• Visit the sugar shack
• Climb on a wagon and go for a hay ride

Hours 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Admission

$7.00 per person (HST included)

$25.00 for a family of four (HST included)

No charge for toddlers under two years of age

Food, including the pancake breakfast, is extra

How to prepare

Dress in Layers

Bring your camera

Please leave your dog at home

How to get there

McLean Berry Farm 2191 16th Line of Smith Lakefield, Ontario

• McLean Berry Farm is one kilometre east of Highway 23 (formerly 507) on the 16th Line of Smith, which is opposite Curve Lake Road • The farm is five kilometres south of Buckhorn • For more information about how to get there, please call 705-657-2134 or email smclean@mcleanberryfarm.com

How maple syrup is made

It takes just a few simple tools to retrieve sap from a maple tree. A hole is drilled in the tree and the spout-like spile is inserted. A bucket is placed under the spile and the liquid is allowed to drip until the bucket is full. To make syrup, the sap is boiled in an evaporator to remove much of the water. The sap is boiled down until it reaches a thick consistency. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.

Maple syrup 101

Maple syrup is not only a breakfast staple, it’s also a fabulous ingredient in a variety of recipes. Pure maple syrup is different – and much tastier than "maple flavoured" or "pancake" syrups, which are made of corn syrup and flavoured with artificial maple extract. Maple syrup is graded according to colour and flavour. In fact, there are four grades of maple syrup. The differences correspond to what point in the season the syrup was produced. The darkest syrup is produced at the end of the sap season. Grades are not an indication of syrup quality. You can store maple syrup in the fridge for up to one year. You can also store syrup in the freezer as it won’t freeze because of the high sugar content.

Syrup production at the farm

The farm now known as McLean Berry Farm was homesteaded in the mid-1800s and has produced maple syrup for more than one hundred years. Although maple syrup production has changed over the years, the McLeans wanted to hold on to some of the old-fashioned techniques. Each spring, the maple trees are tapped and all of the sap is collected from the trees by hand. Shake off a long winter and celebrate the coming of spring by experiencing maple season in the Kawarthas. Enjoy the heady scent of boiling sap and the taste of syrup straight from the evaporator. You’ll probably leave McLean Berry Farm with a bottle of fresh, delectable maple syrup or maybe even some maple butter or maple candy.