A month of maple syrup celebrations at John R. Park Homestead

Windsor Morning's Jonathan Pinto learns about Maple Month at ERCA's John R. Park Homestead in Harrow

Media | Evaporating maple sap to syrup at the John R. Park Homestead

Caption: Kris Ives, curator of the John R. Park Homestead in Essex, Ont. talks about the pioneer process of evaporating sap in to maple syrup.

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At the John R. Park Homestead conservation area in Harrow, the month of March and maple syrup are intrinsically linked.

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Caption: A plate of maple candies. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

Having never visited the Homestead before - and being a lover of all things maple - I decided to pay a visit to learn about the celebrations.
Tap on the audio player to hear what I found.
The Homestead's maple syrup festival takes place Sunday, March 5 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more on all Maple Month festivities at the John R. Park Homestead, click here.(external link)

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Caption: Don and Jean Giffin run Giffin's Maple Syrup Products in Blenheim. They supply the syrup for the Maple Month celebrations at the John R. Park Homestead in Harrow, which is run by curator Kris Ives (right). (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

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Caption: A bottle of maple syrup from Giffin's Maple Syrup Products in Blenheim. Unusually warm weather means that the Giffins will not be producing maple syrup this year, so the maple syrup consumed at this year's festival will be from reserves. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

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Caption: Sap flowing from a maple tree at the John R. Park Homestead. The maple syrup produced using pioneer methods at the Homestead is for demonstration purposes only. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)

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Caption: The John R. Park Homestead is located at 915 County Rd. 50 in Harrow. (Jonathan Pinto/CBC)