Edible Earth

Sarah never pictured herself as a market gardener when she and her husband purchased 32 acres of land east of Kingston in 2008. Having lived in the city most of her life, with limited space for a flower and vegetable garden, all she wanted was to plant raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, a few fruit trees and fresh vegetables for her family. Then Sarah found tiny garlic seeds in the garden left by the previous owners. Garlic is an essential ingredient for most Korean dishes, and being a native Korean, Sarah didn’t hesitate a moment in replanting them in the garden that Fall.

After discovering the many Maple trees on the property, trees were tapped, sap collected and boiled over a wood fire, producing their very first maple syrup. The family loved the syrup and as a result, more was produced than they could consume. After discovering a variety of wild mushrooms on the property, and along with several garlic varieties, and maple syrup, in 2012 Sarah decided to vend at The Kingston Public Market.

Since that time Sarah has raised lots of fresh healthy vegetables for her family and the market, ecologically and with a zero tolerance for chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Instead, Sarah manually weeds, picks bugs by hand from plants, collects seeds from her own crops, makes compost, plants green manures and uses minimum water to conserve groundwater. Sarah became a certified organic grower by 2015.

Besides all her veggie varieties and maple syrup, Sarah produces for the market, Kimchi, a very popular and healthy product made from fermented Nappa cabbage, Black Garlic, a fermented garlic high in antioxidants, and her famous pickled beets.

Sarah enjoys sharing and exchanging knowledge with customers at the market. She strongly feels that she is a thread in the fabric of the community, contributing to a healthy, local food culture, for a healthy happy life.