Kicking off the Maple Season with Maple Taffy in the Courtyard

On February 28, 2022, Mr. Hart (Manager, Outdoors Every Day) and Ms. Greenshields (Assistant Head: Sustainability) set up their stove in the courtyard outside the Dining Hall and students gathered around as the sweet smell of maple syrup wafted around the campus. Despite cold temperatures, our students were happy to wait for the delicious sweet treat that Mr. Hart has come to perfect in his time at LCS.

Harvesting maple syrup has been a long-time tradition at LCS; the knowledge and “tricks of the trade” are passed from person to person, ensuring the art of maple syrup harvesting is never lost at The Grove. Mr. Hart inherited his knowledge of maple harvesting from Mr. Arsenault who has worked at LCS for over 40 years. Mr. Arsenault carried on the tradition from a former staff member, Mr. Sunderland. 

Mr. Hart laughed as he explained his first venture into the world of tree tapping and maple syrup harvesting, saying, “When I first started, I just tried making it on my barbecue. I heard that Mike Arsenault tapped trees and knew how to harvest and prepare maple syrup so I thought I’d try it myself. In my first year, I spent $60 on propane and yielded about a litre and a half of syrup. And Mike just quietly observed. It wasn’t until the maple season was over that he pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to know how it was really done, having seen me use my barbecue.”

Ms. Greenshields graduated from LCS in 2003 and came back to work as a Don in 2008. Since starting her new role at the school in January 2022, she’s already immersed herself back into this LCS rite of passage by making maple taffy not once but twice! Ms. Greenshields said, “I’ve done lots of outdoor cooking but I haven’t made maple taffy in years…the last time was probably when I was here as a don.”

As students gathered around, waiting with bated breath, for the syrup to reach the right viscosity for taffy, Mr. Hart talked about the factors that play into the taffy-making process. “The first sap of the season is always lighter in colour; it’s often called a light amber and the flavour of the syrup is more delicate. As the season goes on and the temperatures rise, there are more microbes in the trees, which will change the sucrose in the sap to fructose and glucose, leading to a darker syrup. With this richer, darker colour, comes a stronger more robust flavour.”