Couple makes maple syrup without owning a tree

An couple just outside Windsor, Ont., produces 500 litres of maple syrup each year despite the fact they don't own a single maple.

Daniel and Kim Choquette of Essex County tap trees in the community.

"We tap people’s trees in their backyards and front yards," Daniel said.

He and his wife supply people with taps and containers and give the tree owner some of the syrup they produce at the end of the season.

Daniel said he's tapped approximately 400 trees in Essex County.

"We try to double our production every year," Daniel said.

But that's been difficult to do this year because of the warm winter and the potential for an early spring.

"So far, this season has been kind of slow. We haven’t had a big run so far. We hope there’s one coming, but I doubt it because the buds on the maple trees are already to flower," Daniel said.

Daniel said  spring has come about three weeks early.

He said the sap will probably only run for another week before the trees are in bud.

The Choquettes sell their syrup at three stores in Essex, one in Tilbury and sell it at a farmers' market in the summer.