Halloween Harvest and a Hurricane

Not sure if we can stand anymore excitement around here! I have been noticing as the storm approaches there is a lot of frantic shopping going on. And it is not just D batteries, matches, and toilet paper. No, I am hearing quite a bit about junk food and alcohol!

I'm sure this doesn't surprise you. Maybe you have been running around, nervously filling a shopping cart with extra milk, bread, chips, and perhaps some more Halloween candy, since it happened to be sitting right there? I also decided at the last minute to run out Sunday morning and do some shopping. Well, not exactly. I decided to do some picking!

My dear friend Patti has been raving about all the varieties of apples at Larriland Farm in western Howard County, as well as the beets, spinach, broccoli, and swiss chard still available for picking. She even brought me a selection of apples so I could taste every kind she picked! (Isn't she the sweetest?) And they were some of the best apples I have ever eaten. As far as fresh fruit goes, Larriland is just impossible to beat.

So with the hurricane on the way, I thought about those apple trees, still laden with juicy, ripe apples, and how those same trees might look in a couple of days, after 55 mile per hour winds have blown through them. It was the thought of all those amazing apples going to waste that forced me up, off my lazy butt, and into the car.

When I arrived at the end of the row for Pink Lady Apples, I was extremely happy I had made the trip. The trees were still filled with beautiful, perfect specimens. I loaded up a bag until I thought my arm might break off. Then I headed for the beet field where I stuffed another bag full of smallish beets with gorgeous full heads of beet greens attached. I might be alone in this sentiment, but I love beet greens almost as much as the beets themselves. If you are still thinking about beet picking, be warned that the beets are definitely on the small side. They will be great for roasting whole, though. There was also an abundance of spinach and swiss chard. I didn't venture into the broccoli field so I can't vouch for the number of heads left to pick.

Larriland is always closed on Mondays, and will close for the winter after November 4, 2012. Before heading out there to pick, they advise you to check their website for the latest updates at www.pickyourown.com. The Red Barn also stocks everything in the fields for sale if you want to avoid the actual picking. Hurry out there before the season ends and you will be rewarded with some of the best produce you can find absolutely anywhere.

hocofoods@@@

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