One focus of the Canadian government's efforts to increase production beginning in the 1990s centered on offering low lease rates on
sugar bushes to producers.
Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws: The
Sugar Bush. Toronto: Little Spirit Bear, 2006.
Marie, the
sugar bush has been in the Thompson family since 1977.
While the handle of the shaker was used to illustrate my learning, the upper shell of the turtle shaker is used as a conceptual model to organize the
sugar bush data.
SUGAR BUSH: A group or concentration of such trees,
The producers mentioned a variety of concerns regarding the health of their
sugar bush that may, in turn, affect season timing as well as sap quality and quantity.
Their descendents still run their maple syrup firm, Fulton's Pancake House and
Sugar Bush.
Pull out the images that they know-street-corner hockey rinks; sap flowing in the
sugar bush; the hard, clear line of the Laurentians; men and clattery combines on the Prairies.
You will wander through the
sugar bush to the sap house and your camera will be busy all the time for there are so many interesting things to record on film (Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co.
Today, the language of maple production still focuses on sugar: a stand of maple trees is a
sugar bush; syrup is made in a sugar shack or sugarhouse; gathering and processing sap is called sugaring and is done by sugarmakers.
Ray Fortune, owner of the
sugar bush, says over the past decade he stopped tapping trees in the front of his property.
For others, it's a cluster of natives with endearing names that belie their toughness: fairy duster or pussy toes; woolly blue curls, shooting star, or silktassel; Mexican hat or
sugar bush. For still others, it's a carnival of colorful flowers, such as cosmos and catmint, salvias and sunflowers, blooming together in glorious anarchy Or it's a backyard habitat for birds and butterflies--a nursery, grocery store, and all-night salad bar for a variety of creatures that call the garden home.
