Photo caption: New location for Parsons Farm Stand on Libby Avenue. (photo credit: Lori Arsenault)
Anyone who regularly drives on Libby Avenue near the Main Street traffic light has probably noticed the new location for Parsons Farm Stand, but that’s not all that’s changing. Moving the shack further back on the property to meet zoning requirements opened the door to some other improvements to the building’s porch and to the driveway that is now more inviting and safe. But there’s more.
Parsons Farm was established in 1947 as a dairy farm, with milk as the main product, sold locally at wholesale. After seven generations, it is still a family farm, and is primarily a dairy farm, owned and operated by the Parsons family. The farm is located at the far end of Buck Street in Gorham, and may be difficult to find. Not only does the Parsons Farm Stand on Libby Ave. make the farm’s produce more accessible, it also makes the dairy farm more sustainable.
While the Parsons family is working the farm day after day, Tracy Junkins, a Parsons family friend, is the one you will usually find at the farm stand, also helping in other ways. During our visit, she explained that as the price of milk fluctuates, it’s getting harder for milk alone to sustain a dairy farm.
One of Parsons Farm’s main products beyond wholesale dairy is maple syrup products. They currently have about 2,000 taps, adding more this year to get to that number. They collect the sap, boil it, bottle it, and sell it as one of the farm’s sustaining products.
Always improving, this year in addition to the improvements at the farm stand, they added a reverse osmosis system and a new pump house at the farm for the maple syrup production. Maine Maple Sunday at the end of March allows visitors to see the operation first-hand, and begin purchasing the new maple products for sale there, and throughout the summer at the farm stand. But there’s more.
With the new location of the farm stand, there will also be more products available at the Libby Avenue location, such as vanilla bean maple syrup produced by Zak’s sister, Gabrielle Parsons. Also new will be bees wax products produced by family member bee keepers, Tyler Lockwood and Miranda Beauchene. When you visit the farm stand, you’ll also see new produce gardens on the property, such as the garden where you can choose the head of lettuce you want right in the garden, and buy it at its freshest.
As a family farm, Junkins said, “Everyone participates in the tapping, collecting and boiling of the maple syrup, and are very much involved with the farm.
The farm stand will be open daily throughout the season. Find updated hours on the the Parsons Farm Stand Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575378623155.