Maple Syrup Season in Ottawa - Temple's Sugar Bush

KITC would like to welcome back guest blogger, Stephen Johnson. Stephen Johnson is an Ottawa writer who loves to write about family travel.  During the summer, you will most likely find him and his family at a local fair or festival. During the winter, a beach in Mexico is a likely bet.  

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When I first moved to Ottawa from Saskatchewan nineteen years ago,  one of the things I loved about Ottawa was visiting a sugar bush every March and April to load up on pancakes and maple syrup.   Saskatchewan grows and produces many great things but maple syrup is not one of them.

Visiting a sugar bush has now become a tradition for our family.   This year, we decided to check out Temple’s Sugar Bush, located on Lanark County Road 15 - Ferguson Falls Road.

The first thing that had made me want to visit the sugar bush was the post and beam timber frame construction of the main building.  Built in 2007, the construction style does not use steel and girders with the giant pine beams held in place by hand whittled wood dowels.  Entering the main building, I was not disappointed. It felt like I had stepped into the Chateau Montebello or an elegant wood frame construction from a hundred years ago.   

Our son,  David, also liked the architecture but was more interested in the buffet.   We were seated at communal tables that allowed for easy conversation. The buffet was expansive and delicious.   There were the items you would expect like pancakes, sausages, beans and eggs. Other less obvious items included salad, breakfast biscuits  and yogurt giving variety to the traditional buffet Of course, the most important feature was the maple syrup which is made on-site.

The best part of the buffet was the taste! Nothing was from a can and tasted homemade. You didn’t see shrivelled up sausages that had been under a heat lamp for hours.  The chef brought out fresh items regularly keeping everyone happy.

I also appreciated the friendly and prompt service.   Even though there was a large crowd, there were enough staff on hand to make sure everyone’s coffee cups were full.  

One other aspect I enjoyed was that there was not loud music being played or over the loudspeakers allowing for conversation without having to yell.  My dad was visiting us from Saskatchewan so having an animated conversation together with David and my wife, Sandy is a memory I will treasure.

After our hearty meal,  we had a chance to meet Charles Temple who shared with us his story.  “I had dropped out of the University of Toronto and wasn’t sure what to do with my life,” offered Temple.  “I remembered fond childhood memories of making maple syrup at my mother’s family farm. I decided I wanted to set up my own sugar camp.  I started off modestly and eventually had my own farm with a sugar bush. Things evolved and we eventually purchased our current property with a vow to open a restaurant.  That has brought us to today with our restaurant.”

Mr. Temple or as he preferred to be called, Charlie, was also kind enough to show us where the sap from the maple trees was boiled and the process to turn it into maple syrup.   

We wrapped our time at Temple’s by walking the nature trail to try and burn off some of the calories we had gained at the buffet.  We walked long enough to probably justify two pancakes and one sausage. Oh well, that will mean just one more bike ride in the spring.

If you go - Temple’s Sugar Bush restaurant is typically open from March 1 -  end of April. The rest of the year, the facility serves as a popular wedding venue. The buffet is served weekends and holidays with the menu being offered Wednesday - Friday.  Expect larger crowds on the weekend but when we went, there wasn’t a lineup and people were served promptly. There is also a small store on-site selling maple products.

If you want to extend your trip, there is a cheese store and Amish furniture store in nearby Balderson.  The historic town of Perth is about a twenty minute drive from Temple’s.

Disclaimer: Stephen and his family were comped for their meal at Temple’s Sugar Bush, but all opinions are his own.

Flashback: Proulx Sugarbush and Berry Farm

Proulx Sugarbush and Berry Farm is located 5 minutes east of Orleans. The Sugarbush is open from late February until early April, and there are special Easter activities on Easter weekend.

The Sugar bush hours vary, but is usually open from 9 am until 3 or 4 pm on the weekends and is open during the week if you make a reservation.  There is also a buffet that is open from 9 am to 3 pm on the weekends.  If you'd like to visit the buffet during the week, you need to make a reservation.  Although its not required, Proulx recommends that you make a reservation to visit the Sugar bush on Easter weekend because its the busiest weekend of the year.

Admission to the farm is $5 + tax (kids under 37 months get in for free).  Included in the price of admission is access to the petting farm, nature walking trails, and the play parks and slides.  These activities are located in a different part of the farm than the maple syrup shack but a horse drawn wagon ride is included in the price of admission so you can visit the Sugar bush to watch sap being collected and visit the syrup shack to see how sap is transformed into maple syrup.  A variety of maple syrup products are available for sale at the farm, including maple taffy on snow ($3), pure maple taffy lollipops, maple taffy filled cones, and maple sugar leaves (3 for $2.50).

My boys both loved visiting the play houses and slides.  Despite the freezing cold temperatures we were outside for over two hours playing in the mud and snow. Learn from my mistake: wear snow pants and winter boots!  Until the temperature warms up, rubber boots make for a cold outing.

Last year when we visited the temperature was hovering around 0 and rubber boots and splash pants were a necessity.  The farm and sugar bush are very muddy so be prepared to wash everything your kids wear that day when you get home.

There is little in the way of scheduled activities and the petting farm is pretty sparse at this time of year (a donkey, a goat, a few sheep, and some ducks).  There isn't any entertainment and our three hours visit was occupied by the wagon ride and free play in the play structures and slides.

Unfortunately, the cold temperatures meant that the sap wasn't running.  We saw a lot of frozen sap in the bottom of buckets but the boys weren't able to watch is flow through the types and drip into the buckets, which sounds a bit like watching paint dry but is remarkably exciting for 5 year olds!

If you're planning to eat at the buffet, be forewarned: its expensive and on the weekends the line-ups are long.  We were lucky only to have to wait in line for 30 minutes.  We had friends who visited the weekend before and waited for over an hour.  The buffet is $23 (plus tax) for an adult, $18.60 for children ages 9 to 11, $15.05 for children ages 6-8, $10.40 for children ages 3 to 5, and free for children 3 years and younger.  They're pretty vigilant about counting family members as you arrive and plate sharing is discouraged.

Proulx Sugar Bush is a great family outing but a lot more fun when the temperatures are hovering closer to zero.  They do have a large heated tent so I would suggest packing a picnic lunch instead of visiting the buffet.

Sara is a photographer and mom to a 5-year-old ” firefighter” and 2.5-year-old “monkey”.  You can also find her at her blog, My Points of View.