Headline News

Maple Madness ends in sweet success

April 14, 2026

By Michael Riley, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

March was Maple Madness and this delightfully sweet and distinctly Canadian confection was flowing steadily this season with opportune climate conditions over the past month or so. Maple Madness highlights Ontario’s maple syrup season, featuring sugar bush tours, pancake breakfasts and family activities. The Bancroft Times takes a look at three local maple syrup producers; Everlily Maples Farm, Lavender Family Maple Goodness and Amber Hills Maple Farm, and they in turn have commented to us about the successes and trials of this year’s maple syrup bounty.

Tanya and Cameron Lavender run Lavender Family Maple Goodness. Tanya tells The Bancroft Times that the cold weather this year has slowed things down, but the sap really just started to run well for them that day.

“We partner with local retailers to get our offerings out to folks. The Muse Cafe here in Bancroft uses our maple syrup in their cafe beverages and baked goods year-round, and offered a number of special dishes and drinks for March. We were vendors at Seedy Saturday, and Syrup Fest at the Canadian Peace Museum on March 28, and were [were at] the Maynooth Easter market [on April 4],” she says.

Lavender Family Maple Goodness is described at quality, handcrafted, artisanal, small batch, fresh, local, maple goodness, and family owned and operated. Tanya and Cameron were raised in Glanmire and Maynooth, and live and work together in L’Amable now with their company. From their website, they say their business was born out of love they share for their families’ deep roots in North Hastings for the past century and a half.

“Our family has been making maple syrup since the 1860s, and today we pride ourselves on producing incredible tasting, first quality, smoky wood fired flat pan syrup, made the old way by boiling maple sap in open wood fired flat pans in the Glanmire sugar bush Cameron’s great great grandfather, great grandfather, grandfather, and father harvested from, starting in the 1860s in Tudor Township, Hastings County. We also bring to market high quality maple syrup products using the best available management practices, produced, and commercially bottled for quality, and safety by our cousins, Ontario Maple Syrup Producers’ Association members, and Regional Representatives, Clancey, and Gale Lavender.”

As well as maple syrup, sugar, butter and candy, they offer a wide assortment of other maple-based products including; maple sweetened jams and fruit butters, savoury maple preserves like mustard, barbecue sauce, relish, ketchup, maple pickled jalepenos, and sweet and sour maple pickled red onions, dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, and spicy pickled asparagus, maple sweetened hot sauces, dry goods like maple sugar pancake mix, maple sugar barbecue rub and fin feather veggie potato rub, and sugar sweetened beet pickles.

Both Ontario certified food handlers, Tanya and Cameron bake to order from scratch maple syrup and butter treats in their home-based public health inspected kitchen, maple butter tarts, Chelsea buns, and maple glazed carrot Bundt cakes. Their products can be found at the following locales; their seasonal farm stand at 47 Old L’Amable Road, Saturdays at local markets, the Muse Gallery and Café in Bancroft, McG’s Cakes on Main in Bancroft, Foxfire Gallery Gifts and Antiques in Maynooth, The Grape and Wedge artisan food store in Apsley, Harcourt Park Marina in Wilberforce, Golden Gatherings in Golden Lake, Burke’s Barnyard in Boulter, and the Iron Moose in Whitney. They can also be procured online at www.lavenderfamilymaplegoodness.square.site/, by phone or text at 613-334-0469 or by email at lavenderfamilymaplegoodness@hotmail.com. They can also be reached via their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/LavenderFamilyMapleGoodness) or on Instagram (www.Instagram.com/lavender_family_maple_goodness/.

Lavender says they don’t really track their volume of sales with how much they sell this year or overall, in any given year, so she can’t really estimate it. She says they follow OMSPA best practices for production and labelling.

As to the types of products they offer, she says they have pure maple syrup, maple butter, sugar infused syrups, maple sugar pancake mix, maple granola, maple sweetened jams, rubs, barbecue essentials like ketchup, barbecue sauce, relish, maple sweetened pickles, hard, and soft maple candies, maple butter cream fudge, maple shortbread cookies, maple syrup Chelsea buns and last but certainly not least, our maple syrup butter tarts in butter sour cream pastry,” she says.

Lavender says her favourite part of the process of producing their maple syrup is being out in the woods and the fresh air.

“Caring for the bush is our favourite. We love it all. Well, maybe not end of season clean up! We love that it’s all natural and healthy. Watch for our tasting events at local retailers this summer,” she says.

Kristen and Jon are the duo behind Everlily Maples Farm (www.facebook.com/everlilymaplesfarm). They have a passion for sustainable living and providing quality food for others. They offer a diverse range of crops using organic and biodynamic farming practices, supplying the community with vegetables, pasture raised beef, pork, eggs, maple syrup and other farm fresh foods and products as available. They are home to a breeding program of registered Nigerian dwarf goats and Kunekune pigs, as well as water buffalo. Kristen and Jon believe in building strong connections with their community and customers, and they’re committed to empowering others by sharing their knowledge and experience. They moved to Bancroft six years ago, and in 2022 began as vendors at the Bancroft Farmers’ Market offering up their maple syrup and locally grown vegetables, and people can also buy their products at their farm just south of town on Hwy. 62. The farm is over 75 acres, where they grow a wide range of crops using organic and biodynamic farming practices.

Kristen told The Bancroft Times that this year has been a slow start and they’re just getting into some good sap production at the end of March, so far making 21 litres of syrup, so they have a way to go still to get 200 litres.

“We keep quite a bit for ourselves for baking and putting in our coffee, teas, and other foods we like sweetened up. We sell out every year usually by early September and have many repeat customers. Right now, we are just making maple syrup but are looking into one other product that we are keeping a secret until we perfect it. One of the least favourite aspects of making our syrup here is having to haul it back on the four-wheeler from the bush making multiple trips per day, but we are looking into a vacuum system to help bring it back closer to the sugar shack. Our favourite part is the finished product, each batch tasting slightly different depending on the time of season and wood used. What we like about maple syrup is it can be used to replace white refined sugar in pretty much anything. The maple flavour is unique to your sugar bush and each person that makes it has different characteristics to it making it have different flavour profiles. It’s always fun to try other syrups to taste the differences. Our maple syrup was featured in four restaurants in Bancroft for Maple March in menu items and drinks. The restaurants were The Granite, The Brew Pub, BC Café and For the Halibut,” she says.

Ryan Moore and Kristena Schutt Moore own and operate Amber Hills Maple Farm (www.facebook.com/amberhillsmaplefarm) and told The Bancroft Times that so far, production has been interesting.

“With the warm spell in March, we thought we were going to get going on target, but then it got cold. We slowly got going towards  the end of march. I have packed a few of our small batch barrels so far, hoping that mother nature cooperates with us and give me a bumper crop this year,” he says.

Ryan says currently they don’t do anything special for March regarding maple syrup, but just try to get everything going and on track for good production.

“Generally, sales are pretty slow at the start of the year for us, and pick up as the year moves on and we settle into our summer farmers’ markets,” he says.

Kristena adds that they also provide maple syrup for local restaurants, community events, and stores throughout Bancroft, Hastings Highlands, Barry’s Bay, Whitney and Apsley.

“So, sales change throughout the year,” she says.

Ryan says they collect their sap through mainlines brought right down to their sugar house.

“[We] process in a 2.5 by 8 CDL Venturi evaporator after we process it through out reverse osmosis system. We focus on production first then then later when everything settles down, we take it from barrels and put it in various bottle sizes. Currently we keep it simple and just produce maple syrup, I do want to expand, but currently focusing on creating a  high-quality product,” he says.

Kristena says they sell 250 millilitre, 500 millilitre, one litre and four litre bottles in both plastic and glass.

“We have also become known for our Cinnamon infused maple syrup,” she says.

Ryan says his favourite part of the process is a little different than some, as it’s when the season is done and he’s made his crop, and he’s into the shutdown and clean up. He says his least favourite part is the stressful lead up hoping for a good season and productive crop.      

Ryan told The Bancroft Times that they started Amber Hills back in 2020. Previously they had 150 taps and jumped to 400 and then to 700 taps.

“We focus on creating a high-quality maple syrup while trying to keep it affordable for people to buy. It’s a wonderful thing to turn water into sugar. Taking two per cent sap and turning it into maple syrup,” he says. “And every year it’s a little different how everything plays out.”

Kristena says her favourite part of syrup making is spending time with family as they’re working.

“And seeing the smiles on people’s faces when they come to our farmer’s market booth saying ‘I’ve come for my syrup!’ And then of course, there is the delicious taste.”