Our maple story started more than 40 years ago when my folks, Bill and Dorothy Underhill, purchased a bush lot just outside of Straffordville from Lyle Walsh. In those early years, a log cabin was built and maple syrup was made over a box stove and a flat pan. It wasn’t long before Dad travelled to Quebec to purchase a used evaporator to speed up the process. Through the ebb and flow of time, family and friends have shared the maple syrup tradition in our sugar bush.
Chris and I built our family home next door to the sugar bush and have lived here for over 30 years. Rarely a day goes by that we are not in the sugar bush going for a walk and enjoying the beauty in nature and all those trees! The sugar bush has always been a part of our lives and so when dad retired, we were fortunate to be able to continue the maple syrup tradition in our family.
In 2009, Chris and I took over the maple syrup operation and embarked on our maple sweet adventure. After years of collecting sap in buckets, we invested in a pipeline vacuum system to ease the workload and expand the operation. We added all food grade equipment, more stainless steel storage tanks, more pipeline and invested in a reverse osmosis system. We quickly outgrew the original evaporator and invested in a new stainless steel evaporator and bottling unit. The original evaporator was retired after the 2009 season and the arch remains in place to this day!
We currently have over 1100 taps in OurSugarBush. Our log cabin has hosted many pancake breakfasts with family and friends over the years and we look forward to continuing the maple syrup traditional with future generations. Our kids, son Earl and his wife Alisha, and our daughter April and her husband Tyler, and our grandkids Oliver and Levi, work (and play!) alongside us in OurSugarBush.
Our passion is making maple syrup and we are so lucky that our trees produce a maple flavour that is superb. We also transform our maple syrup into delicious maple sugar, maple butter and bit size maple sugar leaves. Our maple syrup is available at our farm and in local stores. We create beautiful maple gift baskets for any of your special occasions. Give us a call and see how we can make your next special occasion maple syrup sweet!
We hope you enjoy the maple syrup from OurSugarBush!