'Christmas Store' latest project of growers' group

Ann Stultz has been tending to greenhouses and herbs for decades. She is busy these days as a principal with the new Northern Tier Growers. The group has opened the Christmas Store at the former Wending Creek Farms/Tucker's Store at Colesburg.

A Christmas Store that recently opened at the former Wending Creek Farms store is the latest project of a growing agricultural organization.

Three Coudersport citizens with diverse backgrounds have partnered to form the Northern Tier Growers (NTG), operator of the Christmas Store behind the landmark Tucker's Store in Colesburg. Ann Stultz, Jim Reed and Barry Bradley cofounded NTG this fall.

The Colesburg store is open every day from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. until Dec. 22. During the holiday season, fresh Christmas trees, poinsettias grown by Stultz, and gift packs containing honey and syrup from area vendors will be available.

All food items are organic, meaning that chemicals used to promote growth and control diseases, unwanted plant growth and insects are not used. In the spring, people will be able to pick their own organic strawberries.

"I believe that there's a need for food that isn't contaminated by pesticides, herbicides and hormones that run rampant in commercial foods," said Reed, who has been in various agricultural fields for the majority of his life. "We're trying to provide wholesome, locally grown products and maintain greater sustainability to the land."

Reed got his first taste of farming as a young child when he helped his grandfather, dairyman Clayton Reed.

More recently, he has been tending to organic farming at Fallen Leaf Farm, just south of the Coudersport Golf Club.

Fallen Leaf Farm is the source of the syrup products distributed by NTG. Reed is also a member of the Community Sustained Agriculture organization, fostering a partnership between local farmers and community members.

Reed worked personally with more than a dozen Amish community farmers in Ulysses to find organic solutions to pest and disease problems. He has also owned and operated a logging and excavation business for several years.

Ann Stultz is a familiar face to Wending Creek Farms customers. She has tended to the greenhouses, owned by John Rigas, for many years.

"Our Christmas Store is more than a seasonal business," Stultz pointed out. "Operations will continue all year long."

Addiotionally, she has been involved in an attempt to use NTG as an educational venture for other growers and school students.

Stultz grows hydroponic herbs at the Dutch Hill Farm which are sold by NTG. Also, 20 acres of organic potatoes will soon be grown at the Dutch Hill site.

Barry Bradley has owned and operated the Dutch Hill Hydroponic Farm for over a decade. He grows tomatoes that NTG sells and does so using organic solutions. Bradley is a former Adelphia/Time Warner employee who lost his job earlier this year, by which time he was already deeply involved in his growing agricultural operation at the foot of Dutch Hill Road.

That farm has been developed at the former Reuning and Bradley apple orchard and cider production center operated for many years by Bradley's ancestors.

NTG has high ambitions for marketing and broader participation. For now, the group will operate the Christmas Store to market its products and spread the word about the vast potential for local agriculture.