Donald Teuma-Castelletti
LUSKVILLE Sept. 9, 2018
Families had the chance to take a step backwards in time on Sunday, when the Alarys held an open house, showcasing the traditional method of preparing cornmeal, working as a blacksmith, tapping maple trees, plus all of the old-school machinery necessary to do so and more.
In conjunction with L’Union de Producteurs Agricoles’ (UPA) open door events across Quebec, l’Érablière Riveraine and farm played host to guests from 10 a.m. through till four in the afternoon, allowing the chance to explore the property, practices and sample the homemade, cornmeal-based pancakes of Daniel and Louise Alary at 5 chemin Odessa in Luskville.
The family had eight stations with unique experiences to explore, starting with a visit to the blacksmith’s forge.
“From a six-inch nail, we make a hook,” said Daniel. “First, we heat the nail in the forge.”

Here, Daniel and one of his sons took iron nails and heated them in the furnace, softening the metal so that the point could be flattened, and the head bent upwards at a 70-degree angle. Then, Daniel drilled a hole in the flattened point, offering the converted nail as a souvenir to visitors, who could use it as a rustic coat hook, key hanger and much more.
From that first stop, families had many choices to explore next, with children gravitating quickly to the barn attached to the forge. Inside, miniature horses, bunnies and more awaited, as well as many tools of the trade, dating to the early 1900’s. Upstairs, a maze awaited children to explore further into the barn.
Next door, the Alary’s collection of nativity scenes and piggy banks were on display in their hut, of which Daniel proudly shared he had 150 of each to show in there. However, he had another 100 banks stashed away, not on display that day.
After that, a poultry barn featured traditional farm birds, but was attractive to guests because of the inclusion of peacocks. Next to this barn sits the family’s evaporator, an important machine for producing their own maple syrup.
Running every hour was a chance to see how cornmeal was made with a couple of hand cranks and harnessing man’s strength. Remi Alary, one of the couple’s sons, ran this station, offering an in-depth look.
“This machine was made in 1887 and pulls the kernels off with this,” said Remi, motioning to the machine he was operating.
After the corn is dried over the winter, the kernels are tough enough to be plucked out by a hand-powered machine. Pushing the corn into a slot with one hand to keep it steady, the other hand cranks, and kernels fly off the cob, collecting in a wooden pan at the bottom.
Finally, the kernels are ground up a few times, producing cornmeal as modern society has come to expect it to look.
Alongside all of this, guests could round out their trip with a tour of the sugarbush via a trailer, pulled behind a classic Oliver 1355 tractor.
“You can ride into the bush, to see where my maple trees are,” said Louise, with a big smile. “There, you can see how the trees are tapped.”
Upon a return from the bush, many families were eager to have their homemade pancakes, made of the family’s own cornmeal and topped with their own maple syrup.
“Our maple syrup is made the old-fashioned way and we work the old-fashioned way,” said Louise, of how their food is different.
Finally, they could emerge from the dining hall, ready to continue exploring, seeing more farming machines of yesteryear tucked away in one barn, as well as a mini chapel, complete with many artifacts rescued from a monastery in Aylmer.
The UPA’s open doors events took place across Quebec, allowing families the chance to become more acquainted with the people who produce their food, and how they do so. With the Alary’s, guests were lucky enough to not only see how it’s done, but how their parents and grandparents would have had their food prepared, too.
“People are interested in seeing how it is done manually,” said Remi. “They know what the modern machines look like, but not how it used to be done.”