42. Chemo Quintessential KnAdian Eh?

 Spring is just around the corner!  Huurah!  The sap is starting to run!  It's sugar maple time!

Our son was working in St. Catharine's, Ontario, at the time.  So my husband and I flew out there during spring break for a visit.  While exploring the surrounding area, we came across a maple syrup farm.  This we could simply not pass up: perfect timing!  My husband who was raised on a dairy farm was very impressed.  As it turned out, the owners had converted their dairy operation into a maple syrup business.  Instead of milking cows, they were milking trees!  Who could blame them: less work and definitely less chance of getting kicked in the head!  The old dairy barn was changed into partly a holding and processing facility for the maple sap, and partly a sugar shack for visitors.  Out in the bush, light blue plastic collection lines were replacing the good old maple buckets.  The lines ran from tree to tree on a gradual slope (gravity-fed) towards a collection tank on the bottom of the hill.  Every half hour or so, the sap was transferred into a tank on the back of a truck and hauled back to the farm.  The only problem with the collection lines was that some clever squirrels would chew through the lines from time to time in order to get to the juice inside!  These days the sap gets boiled down for the amusement of visitors mostly, whereas in actual fact a method called reverse osmosis is more commonly used.  This requires more equipment, but also a lot less time.

After the tour we got treated to some scrumptious pancakes smothered in of course... maple syrup!   Mmmm!  Delish!

Back tomorrow!