About the farm
Summit Springs Farm is located in southern Androscoggin County, Maine, in the town of Poland. We are about 20-25 minutes west of Lewiston/Auburn, 40 minutes north of Portland, and 50 minutes east of Fryeburg.
The farm rests atop White Oak Hill next to the Summit Golf Course on Summit Spring Road. Other nearby landmarks include the Summit Spring Holistic Health Center and the Poland Spring Health Institute (both also on Summit Spring Road) and the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village and the Poland Spring Resort, both on Route 26. The farm is 44 acres total. Most of the land is woods, with about 9 or 10 acres in hay and three in vegetables. The farm also has a number of very old apple and pear trees near the farmhouse, which was built around 1895.
Sonya Theriault and John Sayles purchased the property at 222 Summit Spring Road in January 2007 and launched Summit Springs Farm in the spring of 2008.
Sonya is a native of Casco, Maine. Most of her farming experience comes from Riverbank Farm, a large organic farm in Roxbury, Connecticut. Since 2002, however, her interest in organic agriculture has taken her to farms in Florida and Connecticut, and she managed Raven Ridge Farm in Montana for the 2004 season. Sonya is also a certified Kundalini yoga instructor and teaches classes now and again here in Poland at Poland Spring Yoga.
Sonya
John grew up in Georgia, received an English degree from Skidmore College in upstate New York, and worked as a technical writer in Seattle during the dot-com boom before moving to Maine in 2002. His interest in food issues and food history prompted him to begin volunteer work on area farms and to sign on as an apprentice at Riverbank Farm for the 2007 season. John is also an amateur songwriter and musician and an avid hiker and photographer.
John
Possible future farmer (who knows?) Lydia Anand Sayles arrived on the scene on December 29, 2008. Hobbies at this point include eating, sleeping, walking, making animal noises, dancing, and socializing. She’s really cute.
Lydia