Sugar Maples Open Saturdays Through the Fall

By Michael Ryan

MAPLECREST - The gardens and greenhouses at Sugar Maples are once again growing as are the lines of people waiting to procure the fresh veggies now available every Saturday through the early fall.

Doors to the little farm stand, on the main drag in the hamlet of Maplecrest, officially open at noon but folks begin gathering well before that moment.

They seek and will find plentiful foods tended in a way the head gardener Dawa Sherpa says is “better than organic.”

“It is a Natural Agriculture method taught by the Japanese organization Shumei to create some of the freshest and most delicious produce available in the State,” Sherpa says.

“This is a method of growing produce simply and without interference- as close to how it grows in nature as possible.

“Going one step further than organic farming, there are no animal products used to enrich the soil. This means that no agricultural chemicals of any sort are used.

“It also means no manure or other soil additives used in organic farming are permitted,” Sherpa says.”Only compost made from local leaves and grass can be added to the soil.”

While that is nice information, it is the bright Pac Choi and Swiss Chard and Chinese Cabbage, mustard greens, scallions, spinach and tender lettuce the shoppers are coming to secure.