Wightman Sugarbush

Wightman Sugarbush

Maple Syrup Producer

Hosted by Jim & Cheryl Wightman and Robin Ferguson

In 1937 the Wightman’s purchased a neighbouring property which included a sugar bush.  The previous owner’s (the Grant family) had previously made maple syrup in a small shack on the south side of the bush lot. Jim began making maple syrup at the age of 10 when he and his younger brother tapped 40 trees around the house & barn. They boiled the sap on an old wood fired kitchen stove which was set up in the bush.  From 1978 to 2010, Jim was producing maple syrup with a friend at the friend’s sugar camp.  In 1985 sap was once again being collected on the home farm using a gravity tubing system with the collected sap being transported to the friend’s operation.  Then in 2011 Jim opened his own modernized maple operation.  He currently has approximately 5200 taps on a high vacuum system on his own property plus two adjacent rented bushlots.  In 2022, Jim formed a partnership with Robin Ferguson and made major upgrades to the equipment in the sugar house.  There is a new high efficiency propane fired evaporator with automatic draw-off as well as reverse flow capabilities and automatic pan washers.  The reverse osmosis equipment has been upgraded and the filtration equipment & drum filling capacities are larger.  Our bottling system remains the same along with the maple butter, maple candy & maple sugar machines.  Our syrup products have travelled to all seven continents (including Antarctica).  In Nov 2016, Wightman Sugar Bush competed at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto and placed in the top 6 of 4 categories.