This time of year has always been “sweet” for the Tomory family.
“We love making maple syrup, we love the taste, and we love working together,” said John Tomory, co-owner of Pefferlaw Creek Farms.
Tomory and his three brothers, Tony, Ben, and Gene, have been making maple syrup since they were little boys on their family farm. Although they all grew up and went off to university, they’ve come back to their roots years later.
WATCH: How Maple Syrup is made
“I think that my brothers and I have a really special connection,” said John. “We’ve always worked very well together. To go through our engineering degrees and come back and do this full-time, and to actually make a business of it – it’s really a dream come true for us.”
While Pefferlaw Creek Farms isn’t the farm the Tomorys grew up on, they say this forest in particular is a joy to work in.
“The maple trees in this forest are spectacular,” said John. “They’re easily over 100 years old. Some of them are as old as 200.”
Together, the brothers work to ensure the trees are treated with respect, exercising extra caution in their tapping process. They’re careful each hole drilled for sap collection is as small as possible so that the trees can heal quickly. Not only does this help keep the trees healthy, but it allows the business to thrive for generations to come.
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“Back in our childhood we would collect it with buckets, so it was a much more onerous process”, said John of trudging through the forest, collecting sap as a child. “But for us, it was always a great passion and a great joy to be doing that every spring.”
Maple syrup season runs from early February to the end of April. At Pefferlaw Creek Farms, they take great pride in their maple syrup, which the Tomorys say is exceptional thanks to their commitment to organic, single-source production.
“From tapping the trees, all the way to filtration, we’re very careful with our quality control and our sustainability practices throughout,” said John.
The season runs from February to April, but the Tomorys’ love of maple syrup runs year round.
Giving back to the community by sharing that love of maple syrup means a lot to the family, John said.
“It’s really a dream come true for us. It’s making a passion a profession.”
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