Sweet treats at Sugar Fest
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Spring is in the air, and North America’s only urban sugar bush is ready to start the season.
Quietly nestled in the heart of Vanier, the unassuming sugar bush has been a part of Ottawa’s downtown landscape since the 1800s.
This year will mark the 26th annual Maple Sugar Fest, which kicked off Sunday with a traditional sugar bush breakfast.
Events are scheduled throughout the week, but the big hoopla will be next weekend, said Gisele Vallee, event coordinator.
Vallee is expecting to feed 500 people on Saturday, and 1,500 on Sunday, with hundreds more coming for the activities.
“A lot of it depends on the weather,” Vallee explained.
“Last year was -16 degrees and a lot of people didn’t come out because it was too cold.”
But spring sprung early this year, and the ground in the bush is quite dry.
“The odds are we’re going to have more people,” she said. “But the problem is the sap stopped running a long time ago.”
Sugar bushes need temperatures to hover around the freezing point to maintain a constant flow of sap.
With this year’s early heat wave, most trees are done producing.
However, Vallee said that they have plenty of syrup at the bush.
With a busy week ahead, Vallee said everything is well underway and ready to go.
marlo.cameron@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @marlocameron
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