Duffy's Lane Maple and Honey
by
Jen and Brent Roberts
15271 Duffy's Lane, Caledon, Ontario


Maple Syrup, honey, brown eggs from free range chickens,
At Duffy's Lane, Caledon, Ontario..
jug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml sizejug of Duffys Lane Maple Syrup 500 ml size
May 1, 2010 : Yes we have done the final filtering and bottling of some of our syrup.





April 6, 2010
This was a pretty difficult season for sugarmakers.  The season in southern Ontario normally begins with tapping on St Patrick's Day, March 17, and runs 4 to 6 weeks.   This year, before anyone was ready, it started in the first couple of days of March, so it was a panic to get the trees tapped and get into production.  Then it got so hot that any syrup that was in the collection tanks more than 24 hours, started to spoil.  We had to dump a lot of sap.  Then there was a few normal days of freeze thaw cycles and we were overwelmed with the sap flow. Then it got to hot again and spoilage became an issue.  We have made a little more syrup than last year, but not nearly as much as we had hoped for with all the extra taps and system hardware we had put in place.


We will have our stand at the Caledon Farmer's Market, in Bolton July  29, and some dates after that
but not set yet.


2010 Production
Total sap collected
50,000 to 60,000 litres

To far to drive to our farm.  We have some syrup available at my
day job near Dixie Rd and 401 click here for a map.
Visitors

Visitors are welcome but we must emphasize that we have a very small sugar shack.  Only enough room for 4 or 5 people inside at a time.   We have no sugarbushing features like hay rides to the bush or pancakes.    If you would like to come and see how it's done, we'll be happy to chat and answer questions, share a cup of coffee.  If you would like to hike back to the bush to see the traditional buckets on the trees, we'll go back with you and you can taste the "before" version.   We can also show the new bags that coming into use.  They're better at keeping the rain and debris out of the sap.   This year we also installed about 1.5 Km of tubing connecting the trees, and hopefully we'll have a vacuum system running on that. The big commercial producers all use vacuum these days.

If you have larger groups or a classroom of kids, we suggest you search out sites like the Kortright Centre or Black Creek Pioneer Village..

A few months after we moved to the Caledon Hills, we were coming home from Barrie and passed a little county general store with a sign out " Maple Syrup Buckets". We did a U turn and picked up 12 buckets. That was the beginning of the addiction. .  Our friends that we shared the syrup with raved about it, so we decided to get a small evaporator and move out of the kitchen to the porch. It just kept growing from there. 

Visitors will be welcomed when the sap starts to flow.  Normally the season is from about March 21 to April 15 but it is totally weather dependent.   We will post notices here when we are starting to make syrup. 

On a normal day we start collecting sap from the buckets around noon and start boiling a little later.  When the flow hits peak we often need to boil from 7:00 AM till midnight. 

We will have syrup for sale in sizes from  50ml to 4L.  We will be posting prices here soon, with pictures of the containers.   If you would like to reserve some, or come up to visit, please give us a call at   905 - 880 - 7876

We can ship also ship if you can't come by.  

To find us on Google maps click here.  You can then click on the Satellite view and zoom in to see the long driveway and the sugar shack to the right of the house, just above the pool.  


To get here:  see our maps page (with satellite view)
To get here from the city come up 427 to the end,
Take Hwy 7 west about 2 Km to the first stoplight, which is Hwy 50.
Come north on Hwy 50 right through Bolton to Castlederg Side Road (stoplight) and turn left (west) to Duffy's Lane Come north about 1/2 Km to 15271.

collecting maple sap from the buckets in the woods
 My wife collecting maple sap early in the season with snow still on the ground.  The best syrup comes from the early run.  The collection jug can be seen just beyond our dog. While the snow is on the ground these have to be carried to a snowmobile for transfer to the Sugar Shack by the house.
the sugar shack is to the right of the house
The Sugar Shack is the small building near the right edge of this picture. 
This is a view of our home taken from the road.  A small pond is under the trees in the foreground.  The stand of maples and beech trees can be seen behind the house.
Duffys Lane Maple sugar shack And the same view with the crop half covered with snow
Maple syrup buckets in the forest
 There are about 25 buckets on trees in this picture.  Firewood for the boiler in the foreground.  Snow is just about all gone but ice is still on the pond.  Life is a little easier now because the Gator can get back to the woods. This year we tapped 54 trees. In 2006 we tapped about 80 trees.  Now looking for a bigger evaporator.  Neighbours are offering to let us tap their trees.  ( I think some kind of exchange is expected in the offer )   In 08' we might get up to 200 taps.
the small maple syrup evaporator
 Boiling on the back deck.

This is the small evaporator we used in '06 and '07.
.

The new evaporator is installed in our Sugar Shack.  Out of the wind, rain, snow etc.
our maple syrup evaporator in full boil
 The evaporator doing its thing.
 
The smaller pan on top preheats the sap, which trickles slowly into the main pan for boiling. 

The trick is to either match the trickle to the boil and top up the preheater with 5 gallons every 45 minutes or ... This rig boils down about 5 to 7 gallons per hour depending on how good the wood is and how often you stoke the fire.

Adding a blower to the lower front door just about doubles the throughput.   Extra sections of stove pipe have been added for better draft.   We added more stack in the second season. .
Bottles of maple syrup in our kitchen
 And after all the hours of cutting wood, spitting it, drying a year before you need it, tapping the trees, collecting sap, and boiling sap you still need to bring it inside to the stove to finish it to exactly the right density.  Too much boiling and the sugar comes out as rock hard large crystal.  Too little and it just isn't legal maple syrup.
A view of the Maple forest
 The maple woods seen from the back deck of the house mid winter.

Our free range chickens
 Some of the chickens the year Rory the Rooster ran the run. A few weeks later, there was no more Rory. Fate unknown.  But he's not chasing Jen any more. This year (2006) we started with 22.  Now there are 21.
Getting about 18 eggs a day with deep almost orange thick yolks. The grasshopper population is getting thin.  The entertainment value will go down with the grasshopper population.


our stand selling maple syrup at the Bolton Farmer's market

Jen talking with visitors to the Caledon Farmer's Market.
in Bolton.
This summer, 2010, it runs from 3 to 8 PM on Thursdays.

We will be there again on July 29,. 2010 and some dates after that, which we will post here.

For details on the Farmer's Market, click here

the chicken coup and some of the bee hives
 The beehives in their temporary home beside the chicken container.   Last years largest colony is on the right.  The others are the new Russian bees with various feeders to help them start building.  When they are at full mid summer strength there are nearly 1/2 million bees living there.

deer visiting in the spring with the Maple forest in the background
 Deer visiting, back when we still welcomed them. They seem to like the Alfafa sprouts.  After we caught them eating all the fruit tree blossoms the welcome mat was pulled in.  Last year only 2 apples grew to ripe fruit, and one fell of and got wormy. In June 2006 the fruit trees have over 100 golf ball sized apples.  Yelling, banging of pots and chases by the border collie are hopefully going to be enough to save a few more this year.
a close up of the deer
 Telephoto shot of them way back near the woods.
Hay drying in our back field
 The alfalfa and timothy crop (aka hay), June 2005, cut and drying in windrows, then bailed. In 2006 we are letting the alfalfa go further into bloom to let the honeybees have a feast.  So far they have not got the message.  They're going off and finding their own supply of something.  About 20% of the crop is in bloom and I have spend hours in the middle of it (pulling thistles that the horses won't eat) and have not seen ONE single honeybee.
A view of he house from the road
 A wider angle view from the same point as above with a bit of snow on the ground.
Our John Deere tractor
 The John Deere tractor is 90 Hp and will be just powerful enough to pull the baler and a hay wagon up and down the hills on the property.  We hope to be able to do the odd job cutting for some of our neighbours who also have the same problems we had.  When the sun shines the farmers make their own had and it's hard to find one that will come and do small lots like ours.

Making Syrup
Syrup for sale
Honey Hay and Eggs
Maps
Crops
Merlin RO system