By Thomas Smith

Last year, around the middle of February, there was no snow in the bush in Haliburton County. With the unusually warm weather, syrup producers had to jump at the opportunity to produce syrup early. Without any snow, they had little to no difficulty maneuvering through their forests to tap their trees for their sweet nectar, maple sap. 

This year, with snow up to your waist in the bush, local syrup producers are saying that the weather has returned to what is typically expected in the county this time of year. 

Esson Creek Maple says that they tapped their trees in late January and early February due to the warm winter season, one of the earliest seasons they have had. The season started early and finished early, with sap flowing for around seven weeks. 

“The deep snow this year has resulted in making the process of tapping the trees especially challenging,” said Heather Bramham, co-owner of Esson Creek Maple and Green Mantle Mineral Tours. “Even with snowshoes and experience.” 

Bramham and her husband Josh, as well as her in-laws Mark and Sandra Bramham have been running Esson Creek Maple since 2016. 

Mark Bramham says that tapping the trees took nine more hours this season than last year. In 2024 it took 43 hours to install 2,200 taps. 

After retiring from teaching in Sault Ste. Marie, Mark and Sandra purchased 300 acres in Wilberforce. While camping and using the land for recreation, Sandra’s mother, May, noticed an outcropping of a mineral formation on the property. It turned out that their property had rare calcite deposits, with crystal growth scattered throughout. After years of trying to secure the rights and paying for assessments by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests, Mark and Sandra were able to obtain the mineral rights to the adjacent Crown land to protect the unique mineral deposits for future generations. Throughout the summer and fall, the Bramhams offer tours through Greenmantle Mineral Tours, their sister business to Esson Creek Maple. The Bramhams take extreme care when creating their trails throughout their property, ensuring not to disturb the land and showcase the untouched ruggedness of the Haliburton Highlands. 

“We own this property,” said Sandra Bramham on CBC’s Still Standing television show. “But we’ve always said, we’re just the caretakers.” 

Greenmantle’s tours take around four hours, with visitors being given a geological review, a walk through the forest, mineral viewing, and a tasting of their maple syrup. More often than not, Mark is the one that conducts the tours. 

“Whether it’s processing timber, bottling syrup, providing tours, maintaining trails, ordering supplies or meeting folks who stop by the Sugarhouse to buy syrup or see minerals,” said Heather Bramham. “Mark is a hardworking and dedicated individual. He is the backbone of our businesses.” 

Esson Creek Maple uses 60 acres of their bush to harvest the maple sap, says Bramham. Around 2,200 trees are tapped, with some even having more than one tap. 

“They are complimentary, yet different businesses under one umbrella,” said Bramham. 

With their property including part of a calcite dome and rare mineral specimens like fluororichterite, Bramham says that the richness of minerals and undisturbed forest enhances the syrup’s taste. 

“When you try the syrup at the sugar house, you get the sweetness right off the bat, but then you can feel the minerals,” said Bramham. 

Using a vacuum system, sap from the 2,200 trees is sucked into a storage tank. The sap is then put through their reverse osmosis machine two or three times, increasing the sugar content of the sap to around 16 to 17 degrees brix (sugar content). Afterwards, the sap is brought into the evaporator where it is boiled to reach 66 to 68 brix. Any less and the sap will be considered sweet sap and any more, the maple syrup will be considered candy and likely have sugar crystals form. 

Esson Creek Maple’s maple syrup can be purchased online, with bookings for mineral tours available through the same URL at essoncreekmaple.ca. 

Other syrup providers in the area echoed the Bramham’s experiences. 

“Last year was very strange,” said Rick Wood, co-owner of The Colour of Wood. “This is more of a normal season.” 

Last year, March 3 marked the Wood’s earliest boiling date, ever. 

The Colour of Wood is located at 1255 Peterson Road, near Carnarvon, where they offer maple syrup for sale, in addition to Wendy Wood’s artwork. 

So far, the Woods have had two boils this season. With the deep snow, Wood says that it was a lot more difficult getting things set up and ready, compared to last year. They are unsure as to how this season will fare with volume. 

“Right now, we are just waiting on Mother Nature,” said Wood.