We have had a very interested winter. In fact, we didn't experience true northern winter weather until this past month. The snow levels have been significantly lower than normal and the temperatures have been above normal many more days than not. As a result, we were able to get into the bush nearly a month sooner than normal. A few drops were recorded when Jennifer did our first tapping a couple weeks ago on February 6th (earliest tapping here ever!), but the trees are slow to wake up as we went into a deep freeze again just after that, so we haven't been collecting anything yet. In other ne ..read more

Good morning!  How did the season wrap up?  We did ok.  Interesting this year as all our lines were on vacuum with the exception of one line of 10 taps, which were gravity fed to a barrel.  The gravity line didn’t produce enough sap for 1 litre of syrup.  The vacuum lines at least kept us average.  So we have been able to fulfill all of our orders.  We are now 5 weeks post fire and wrapping the season up.  Syrup has all been bottled, and deliveries are still going out with most people having picked up their orders already, and a few to be shipped out t ..read more

Welcome Back! We are not reinventing the wheel in this post. In fact, we are sharing an amazing recipe by American Chef Andrew Gruel. To put our twist on it, we are upgrading the Maple Syrup to "Michael's Smoke Infused Maple Syrup".  Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Maple Butter 6 clices of bacon (center cut) par-cooked in an oven for 10 minutes at 350F 6 dry jumbo sea scallops avocado oil, salt, fresh cracked pepper (save until end) For the glaze: 1/2 cup Pure Maple Syrup 1/2 cup chicken stock or broth  4 tablespoons butter 1 lemon juiced and zested For complete instructions Visit:&n ..read more

Good morning! ​ I was supposed to post this last night, but was so involved in bottling syrup that I didn’t get to it. We have announced the silent auction, https://www.michaelsmaple.ca/syrup-silent-auction.html  Beginning May 1 you have the opportunity to bid on one of 10 Limited edition Michael’s Maple smoke infused maple syrup. The auction runs through Friday May 5th and we will be updating the top 10 bid list daily. So, as an added bonus, we are sharing 5 days of Smokey Maple recipes! We would also love to hear what recipes you enjoy making with your Maple Syrup! A shout out to ..read more

Heavy Hearts "Jennifer, Wake up! The Sugar House is on FIRE!" ​Words that no one ever wants to say or hear. Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023 - The Day Before  Weather and trees have finally synched up and we are anxious to start boiling.  We have had a fantastic response from all of our long term loyal customers, with many of them increasing their orders.  We have spent weeks in the bush fighting snow and wind storms adding more taps and lines to collect the precious sap to boil down to syrup.  We have been watched by the deer as we shared trails with them and the foxes ..read more

 Good morning everyone!  Here’s the update from the sugar bush.  It’s all quiet on the western front.  And the eastern front.  And the north slope.  I took advantage of the quiet over the weekend to add a few more trees to the equation.  But for the most part, things have been a little too cold to really open up the production.  We are still waiting for enough sap to fire up the boiler, and looking at the weather the rest of this week, we could be starting by Friday.  The local Conservation Authority reported this week that snowpack is 190% o ..read more

March 19, 2023       Good morning everyone!  Quick update from the sugar house.  A few items to take care of before we start the boiling.  Farley and I spent over 5 hours out in the bush on Thursday, and the snow depth back there is average waist high.  Even on snow shoes I broke through in a couple of places, so I have it on good authority.  Farley went thru as well,  and was really quite worn out at the end of the day.  He spent Friday on the couch recovering.  I followed his example.  Looking ahead at the weather f ..read more

         Good morning everyone!  The tapping has begun!  There are all sorts of projects and jobs to do getting ready for the maple season.  Tapping is just one.  Over the past week I have been cleaning the sugar house and getting it ready for production.  The evaporator is ready to go, all that is left now is to finish reconnecting plumbing from the main storage tank.  I have been out breaking trails in the bush just so we can get out to check lines and tap the trees.  There is over 30” of snow in the bush, and this year it is a much ..read more

Hi dee ho Mapleites!  Shhhhh, the trees are still sleeping...  I hope!  ​We have had lots of snow come down over the past few weeks, and some rain today.  But looking over the next 14 day forecast, looks like temps are going back down to more normal.  So it is definitely time to head to the sugar house and get that tidied up.  We will start tapping in about 2 weeks.  Some producers in southern Ontario have already begun to tap and are seeing the sap starting to come in.  As I sit here writing this, I can look out the window and watch the snow coming dow ..read more

Good morning everyone!  ​I can’t believe another year has gone by already.  First of all, my apologies for not posting last year.  Let me fill you in.  Two years ago after much research we decided to add a vacuum system and mainline.  A major investment for us, in both time and finances, and research.  Thank you to the many maple farmers who helped me develop our system!  The fun began in November, with mapping out the mainline, and the slope.  Even though we are using vacuum to move sap, we are still reliant on the correct slope to help keep the ne ..read more