Farming is the noblest
vocation on earth and the one that ultimately controls the destiny of the planet. -- Joel Salatin
In the summertime and fall stop by our farm stand on rte 22 for the freshest vegetables
-- our tomatoes are amazing!
Northern Washington County, the Champlain Valley and Ticonderoga area are producing
a local food niche with more and more farmers offering awesome products each year.
Here in Putnam Station,
the northernmost town in Washington County, we raise sheep, pigs, chickens and vegetables. Soon there will be an abundance
of fresh eggs as the new crop of pullets is growing fast.
Going into 2015 we have our own broilers, whole
or halved, pork and lamb available. Broilers are raised on pasture here at the farm. Local USDA slaughterhouses
process our pork and lamb, which are available individually shrink wrapped by the cut.
Lambing season and
shearing time are coming up soon. Whole wool fleeces are available for spinning and other fiber pursuits.
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Border Collie Kedra keeping an eye on her chickens |
Our children are now the 4th generation to live and
work here on our farm. Originally a diversified small farm that raised both animals and crops, Maple Grove Farm shipped
eggs and maple syrup in the 1940's and 1950's south to NYC and other parts of the U.S. Until
the 1970's cows were milked daily. Milk, eggs and chickens were sold to folks for dinner. In the late 1980's
a small flock of angora goats was started as well as some llamas and then sheep were added.
More
recently the sheep transitioned from strictly fiber producing to more dual -purpose animals. Also poultry and pigs
were brought back and in the fall of 2012 a young milk cow took up residence in the barn.
We now raise a market garden and attend Schroon Lake and North Creek, NY markets in the summertime.
Our high tunnel enables us to both start earlier and grow later into the season. Our farm stand includes
meats, vegetables, eggs and local products such as maple syrups, jams and jellies.
The difference we see
for ourselves has led us to open to the general public. We are located on Route 22, between historic Ticonderoga
and Whitehall on the southwest shore of Lake Champlain. These beautiful rolling hills are ideally suited for farming.
Over the past 10 years our local traditional grocery stores have been pushed out of business. The shopping alternatives
are not real food and we don't believe that they help us to "live better."
Luckily,
this situation led our family to look for real food. We have raised sheep and angora goats for nearly 20 years
and over the past few years have added pastured poultry and heritage breed pigs.
Meat and eggs are available
year round. Vegetables start in June. We also sell locally produced honey, maple syrup, goats milk soap and
peanut butter. We are usually here...OR meet us at the farmer's market. We can be found at: Schroon Lake, NY on Mondays 9-1 from
the end of June -- Labor Day at the town hall offices parking lot North Creek, NY on Thursdays 3-6 pm, June 13 -- Oct 3 at the train depot along the Hudson River
Spinning Fiber for Sale:
Each spring we shear the sheep
and clip the llamas. The sheep include shetlands, tunis, texel and some dorset and suffolk and the myraid of crosses
those can give. This spring's fleeces included
creams, tans and a variety of browns. The shetland wool is nice for next-to-the skin knitted goods and the texel
wool is especially spongy and makes a nice batting for blankets and quilts. Our raw fleeces
are available for handspinning and other fiber pursuits. We sell them from the farm and on Ebay. We currently
have these available. Let us know what you are looking for. Sheep
shearing was March 29. Whole raw wool fleeces are available now. Adult fleeces are $3-5.00/lb averaging 4-6
pounds and first clip yearling fleeces are $ 5-10.00/lb and average 2-3 lbs each. These are minimally skirted and
come in many shades of white and cream with some tans, beiges and browns thrown in.
At
this time we really do not anticipate having many sheep for sale. Lamb is available by the cut at the farm or farmers
market starting in May.
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