Sap is boiling early at Turtle Creek maple camp

Maple syrup camp next to Moncton's fresh water reservoir now operated by Fundy Biosphere Reserve environmental organization

Alan Cochrane

Published Mar 04, 2024 • Last updated Mar 04, 2024 • 3 minute read

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Heather Fraser and Nigel McLaughlin started boiling the first maple sap of the season on Monday at the City of Moncton maple camp next to the Turtle Creek Reservoir. The Fundy Biosphere Reserve has a three-year contract with the City of Moncton to operate the camp to make syrup and provide educational tours. Photo by ALAN COCHRANE /BRUNSWICK NEWS

TURTLE CREEK • The City of Moncton’s maple syrup camp in Turtle Creek started boiling sap over the weekend, kicking off a new season under the management of the UNESCO Fundy Biosphere Reserve.

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“We had a lot of work to be ready for when the sap is running, which is now,” said Heather Fraser, a retired city employee who set up the maple camp in Albert County more than 20 years ago. Since she retired two years ago, Fraser has worked with the Fundy Biosphere to develop a plan for the non-profit environmental organization to lease the operation from the city and keep it going for its educational value.

Jennifer Dingman, executive director of the UNESCO Fundy Biosphere Reserve, told Moncton city council in January that their intention to make syrup and provide educational sessions for school children, seniors and anyone who wants to learn about the process. The camp is next to the Turtle Creek reservoir, the city’s main source of drinking water. City council voted in January to lease the land to the Fundy Biosphere Reserve for a three-year term.

0304 tt moncton maple — Heather Fraser and Nigel McLaughlin started boiling the first maple sap of the season on Monday at the City of Moncton maple camp next to the Turtle Creek Reservoir. Photo by ALAN COCHRANE /BRUNSWICK NEWS

0304 tt moncton maple6 — Maple sap bubbles as it boils inside the evaporator at the Turtle Creek maple camp. Photo by ALAN COCHRANE /BRUNSWICK NEWS

0305 tt moncton maple4 — The City of Moncton maple camp near the Turtle Creek reservoir has been in operation for more than 20 years. Photo by ALAN COCHRANE /BRUNSWICK NEWS

The Bay of Fundy Biosphere is one of more than 600 unique landscapes in more than 100 countries around the world that have been recognized as World UNESCO biosphere sites, but this one will be the only one that has a maple syrup camp.

This week, Fraser is back at the camp with Nigel McLaughlin , running the evaporator machine and making maple syrup. Sunday was the first day of collecting sap and boiling it as afternoon temperatures rose up to near 10 C.

“In our 25 years of operation, this is only the third year that we’ve boiled sap on the first week of March. Usually it’s not warm enough and the trees aren’t awake yet,” Fraser said.

Fraser said they have several thousand trees tapped around the reservoir that feed into a central collection point. They use a large container on the back of a pickup truck to bring the sap it to the sugar shack, where it is pumped into the evaporator. The sap appears to be as clear as spring water as it flows through plastic tubes. The sweet water goes into an oil-fired burner, where it boils. Water going into the machine is three per cent sugar and it is boiled to 66 per cent sugar.

As the sap boils, it gets thicker and goes from clear to a brown colour.

But this boiler has another purpose. The steam from the boiling sap rises into the upper part of the condenser, it where it recycles back into hot, pure water, which they use to clean to clean the machine. Ironically, the camp is next to the city’s main source of fresh water but does not have its own tap. The recycled water can also be used to make natural maple-flavoured tea.

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Fraser said the main goal of the camp is education, with the sale of maple products going to play expenses, but it is not intended to compete with the many privately operated maple camps in New Brunswick. She said the maple camp at Turtle Creek is wheelchair accessible and has a parking lot, which makes it an ideal place to host bus tours of students, seniors and others.

She retired two years ago and the camp has been dormant until this season, as the Fundy Biosphere takes it over with the emphasis on nature and conservation. The education will include references to how the First Nations people discovered maple syrup and passed the knowledge on to European settlers.

“We will have a hands-on tour and a mini pipeline set up when we open, so people will be able to see the clear sap coming out of the tree, and then they will learn about the process of how the sap comes from the tree, gets evaporated and then made into other products like syrup, taffy and maple cream.

“To make the sugary maple cream and butter, the syrup at 66 per cent sugar is boiled even further to over 80 per cent, and then whipped into a solid form.Visitors to the camp will also learn about how making maple syrup depends on the weather and every season is different. The tours will begin in mid-March and continue through April.

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