It was a cloudy day, so the pics look a little gloomy but it was not too cold
Here you can see some benches that are next to the main entrance where the shop is located
At the shop, you can see a board with all the activities and the time when the activities start. Ask someone for directions if you need to know where to go
While we were walking towards the area where they had the sap collecting buckets, these sheep came running towards us, my kids freaked out but they were very exciting to see the sheep
A little later we saw this big duck, looked like it weighed at least 10 pounds to me, it was about the size of one of those Canada geese birds
The farm had this stack of neatly piled wood
You could actually get busy and cut the wood with this huge saw
These orange roots looked really weird and much better in person
Here you can see the buckets that they use to collect the sap. If you stand still and don't make any noise, you can here the drops making noise when they hit the bucket. It's a pretty interesting sound
A close up shot of the buckets
I tasted the sap as did my wife and the kids. It doesn't taste as syrup at all, it is like water with a very tiny hint of sweetness, the sap is also clear, it does not have a color
This is the evaporator, it is used to make syrup from the sap
Open pan evaporation methods have been streamlined since colonial days, but remain basically unchanged. Sap must first be collected and boiled down to obtain pure syrup without chemical agents or preservatives. Maple syrup is made by boiling between 20 and 50 volumes of sap (depending on its concentration) over an open fire until 1 volume of syrup is obtained, usually at a temperature 4.1 °C (7.4 °F) over the boiling point of water
Boiling the sap for too long will create crystals so you have to be on top of the process and check it. While they were doing the explaining, they also mentioned that the indigenous people would warm up stones and then drop those hot stones in the sap to create syrup.
After you are done with the presentation, you can go to the house where they will make you some old fashioned pancakes.
Farm house
Chickens
These chickens come inside at night because foxes and hawks will snatch them and eat them. They told us to come back in about 4 weeks because that is when they will have the little chicks.
My daughter Catherine petting this horse
After the farm, we drove to Nomad Pizza in Hopewell. If you want to eat there you will probably have to wait since they only have 10 tables or so. In the summer there is an outside area as well. This is why if we go there during the colder months we make sure to get there by 5
I had the chorizo with onion, pepper and mozzarella pizza, it was delicious
