2019-20 Southern Adirondacks Guide to the First Wilderness Heritage Corridor

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Thurman – Cultivating its
Rural Heritage
Thurman has forever romanced her land and waterways. Hardy settlers
cleared thick forests to create pastures, build homes and grow
crops. They harnessed creeks to power mills for grinding grains or
sawing lumber. The woods also offered wild game and maple sap,
while streams and rivers supplied fresh water, fish, furs and transportation.
Today, many in Thurman still seek sustenance from nature’s
abundance, by heating with wood, and hunting. fishing or farming to
fill freezers and pantries. Many sell their goods, both at area farmers’
markets and from home garden
stands.
Some, like our internationally acclaimed
goat cheese farm and many
of our maple producers, establish
websites for online orders. Thurman
boasts the four largest commercial
maple producers in Warren County,
along with a number of smaller and
growing operations. Their list of delectable
products is exceeded only by
these farmers’ desire to innovate and increase their offerings. When
you visit, look for more than pure maple syrup. The menu of possibilities
includes exotic choices, such as bourbon-flavored maple syrup,
maple cotton candy, maple cream bonbons, maple raspberry cream,
maple brittle, maple glazed nuts—the stuff dreams are made of.
At Thurman’s free annual farm events you’ll find animal encounters,
demonstrations, tours, talks and walks, along with such activities
as product sampling, wagon rides to the sugar bush and a pancake
breakfast. Maple farms starring in our local events are Adirondack
Gold, Valley Road, Mud St. Maple, Hidden Hollow, and Toad Hill—
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each with its own special way of welcoming you to Thurman’s maple
tradition.
This passion to produce wholesome food has fueled many in Thurman
over recent decades. Since 2005, Nettle Meadow, a 50-acre farm
has been expanding its herd, its facility and its product line of internationally-acclaimed
gourmet cheeses made from sheep, goat and cow
milk. Two local farms are producing sought-after products. Whitefields
offer all-natural turkeys, eggs and garden goods, and Blackberry
Hill markets with certified organic vegetables, breads and herbs, poultry
and non-GMO pork. Ready to jump on board soon will be Pink
Rose Farm.
Many in town work in logging, now with increased attention to sustainability
of this valuable resource,
a trend exemplified at explained at
the annual Martin’s Lumber Woods
Walk & Artisan Market, held on the
first Saturday of June. During Woods
Walk and Fall Farm Tour, you’ll find
not only an array of artisans in and
around a new traditional Dutch barn,
but also guided walks to learn about
sustainability of forests, about edible
and medicinal wild plants, and about
mushrooms, even learning how
to inoculate logs with mushroom
spores or dowse for water.
Visit our farms in March for Maple Days, Saturday of Columbus
Day weekend for the Thurman Fall Farm Tour with its quilt show, artisan
market and many farm open houses. Visit at other times by chance
or (recommended) by appointment.
Come spend the night at The Glen Lodge, our riverside B&B. You
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