Libby Outlaw & Ken Dawson

At Market on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

Products: A wide variety of vegetables, cut flowers and small fruits. Vegetables from Asparagus to Zucchini, include up to 10 different kinds of tomatoes, 6 varieties of potatoes, and red, green, yellow and purple peppers. Flowers from Anthirrum to Zinnias, include such elegant and fragrant beauties as oriental lilies and tuberoses. We also do wedding arrangements. Small fruits include strawberries and blueberries. We sell bedding plants such as tomatoes and basil in the early spring.

Location: Cedar Grove, NC

History: The farm is owned and operated by Ken Dawson and Libby Outlaw. They bought the 61 acres at their present location as a worn out, rundown tobacco farm in 1990. Through good land stewardship, it has now become a thriving, biologically rich farm producing an abundance of food and ornamental crops. Having first sold organically grown vegetables in Orange County in 1972, Ken has farmed full time since 1984, selling produce to local stores such as Wellspring Grocery/Whole Foods Market, to area restaurants and primarily through local Farmers Markets. Ken and Libby have been members of the Carrboro Farmers’ Market for 25 years, and members of the Durham Farmers’ Market since its beginnings in 1999. In 2004, they initiated their CSA program and currently have 156 members. Maple Spring Gardens was Certified Organic for about 10 years, discontinuing certification in 2005 when they stopped growing for the grocery store trade. Currently, their produce is sold almost entirely at the Durham and Carrboro Markets and through their CSA. Ken and Libby are as committed as ever to offering the highest quality produce, grown by farming methods that are beneficial to the land and safe for themselves, their workers and their customers.

Ken is an active proponent of sustainable agriculture and local food production, having served on local Farmers Market Boards of Directors for 21 years, teaching workshops and serving on advisory committees. Libby and their nephew, Jon, are the faces of Maple Spring Gardens at the Durham Farmers’ Market.