How Early Acadians Survived!
One of the early engineering marvels of the New World was undertaken when in the 1700s when Acadian farmers built dykes around 5000 hectares of salt marshes on the Bay of Fundy, effectively gaining them back from the ocean. The soil was salt free in three years, allowing them to become fully self-sufficient in their primary foods. On them they grew cereal crops like wheat; pastured thousands of cattle, sheep, swine and horses and...
Canadian Maple
Canada manufactures 84% of the world’s maple syrup. There are over 30,000,000 taps with roughly 15 million trees tapped in Canada. That’s about one tap/spile/spout for each Canadian. Each tap yields about .8 litres on average.
First Nations and Maple Sugar
Maple sugar-making was an important social activity for the indigenous peoples. Families and small groups gathered in temporary camps in early March, staying for about a month in order to produce their yearly supply. Diagonal cuts were created in the base of the sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) with an axe and the sap that flowed out was gathered in shallow containers. Originally the syrup was boiled by plunging hot stones into...
Canada’s Earliest Bee Lab
The Reverend F.W.Clarke gave the first lectures on bee-keeping at the University of Guelph in the late 1800’s. The Bee Lab at that university is as old. Teaching undergraduate, graduate and post graduate courses, it has about 300 hives spread out around 8 locations near the city.
Atlantic Giants Hail from Nova Scotia
The Atlantic Giant Pumpkin is the grand-daddy of all giant pumpkins holding the present day record of over 1,300 lbs. It reaches its competitive size in 130 days. Developed by the late Howard Dill of Windsor, Nova Scotia, the Atlantic Giant variety consistently produces 400 – 500 lb fruit. Ranging from yellow to dusty orange, it’s seen in giant pumpkin contests and international competitions.
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