Sweaburg's Jakeman's Maple Syrup set to tap
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The sap’s on track to start flowing sometime during the next week at Jakeman’s Maple Farm outside of Sweaburg.
Devin Jakeman, the farm’s general manager anticipates sap will run on a more traditional schedule this year compared to last year.
“Last year it was real early. This year is definitely more on track,” he said during a phone interview Wednesday. “We have snow in the bush and everything. It’s more a typical year.”
The 2012 syrup-making season started the first week of February, almost an entire month earlier than normal. Maple syrup producers usually tap trees at the beginning of March and the season lasts about a month.
“When it ran, it ran. And it quickly got warm and stopped. That’s kind of where we were lucky. A lot of producers didn’t get tapped in time and missed it (the season),” he said.
The sap only flowed about two weeks, but despite a shorter than average season a normal amount of syrup, about 1,100 litres, was made.
Experience and keeping an eye on weather patterns is the secret to sap collecting success, Jakeman said.
Sap starts flowing when daytime temperatures hover in the 5 C range and overnight plunge to about -5 C.
“We’ll definitely be keeping an eye on the weather patterns and tap when we think it’s the right time,” he said. “If it goes the way they are saying now we’ll tap before the 4-H breakfasts start.”
This year marks the eighth members of Oxford County 4-H clubs have volunteered to cook and serve breakfast at the pancake house located at the Sweaburg sugar bush.
Meals are served from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sundays in the month of March. Included on the menu are pancakes with Jakeman’s maple syrup, breakfast sausages and maple-baked beans.
Dates the pancake house is open are:
March 2 - Thamesford 4-H Club
March 3 – Oxford Centre 4-H Club
March 9 – Hickson/Community 4-H Club
March 10 – Embro II 4-H Club
March 13 – Community/Hickson 4-H Club
March 16 – Mount Elgin 4-H Club
March 17 – East Nissouri Dairy 4-H Club
March 23 – Brooksdale 4-H Club
March 24 – Ingersoll Diary 4-H Club
March 29 – Hickson/Community 4-H Club
March 30 – Embro II 4-H Club