Tag Archives: West HoCo

Picking Fruits and Veggies

Posted on September 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

The end of the peach season is upon us. Soon, the rest of the 15 varieties of apples will be ripening at Larriland. We need to get back out there and pick some white peaches for the freezer. You can’t beat a day with this view.

I have also never picked grapes out there. Or, quite a few other veggies. This lovely weather makes me want to hit the farm and get a few more good items to put away.

The web site also tells us that the tomatoes will be good through October. I may go there and get a large quantity of romas, just to finish the sauce processing.

This year, my romas and paste were way down from previous years. Even with more plants. I know it is time to move the garden out to the field even if it means twice the length of hose to irrigate it. We are now down to seven hours of sun a day, maximum, on the current garden site.

I do have quite a harvest of heirlooms still ripening. Most get picked before I get stink bug or something chewing on them. I think it’s the squirrels. I need to get a dog. Seriously.

Not only are the squirrels getting into my plants, they are chewing on the cedar siding around our doors.

All in all, though, I did get, and I am still getting quite a haul of heirlooms. Finally, pineapple tomatoes, hillbilly tomatoes, and Amana orange, all producing fruit almost every day. Another full windowsill.

I do love this mild, low humidity weather that we are experiencing. I could get used to working outside without that heat and humidity.

hocofood@@@

Fall Sneaking Up on Us

Posted on September 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

Signs that we are heading towards that change of season.

My first Thelma Sanders squash, hidden under the leaves in a corner of the garden.

Berries on the crab apples. A bumper crop of berries. Here’s hoping we get the cedar waxwings who love to feast on the berries.

Rhododendron buds are really plentiful this year as well. Last year there was lots of growth but not that many blooms. This year, all the rain was good to them and they put out huge amounts of buds, which means lots of flowers next May.

Morning glories completely out of control. I didn’t prune them back this year. A friend who grows grapes told us in rainy seasons to let the flowers and weeds get close to your garden. In the case of a very wet summer, their competition for the moisture will be beneficial to keeping your veggies and fruit from diseases caused by too much water.

A basil plant that decided to rise from the ruins of the bunny devastation of last spring. I have no idea how it came back from its puny little nub left after the rabbits got to it.

Newly mowed meadow. Ready to be baled. Driving my sinuses nuts, but it really looks forlorn, where once there was all this tall lovely grass.

Lots of green tomatoes still out there, hiding and in plain sight. I figure we have about four or five more weeks before the weather changes for good, and I have to bring them in if they don’t ripen. Right now I am still getting lots of slicing tomatoes, but all the paste tomatoes are about finished for the year.

Weather is lovely, isn’t it? Temps in the low eighties and high seventies. Cool nights.

The blue basil is going to seed. Time to do the last big harvest and make another boatload of pesto.

Enjoy this weather while we can!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hobbies, Howard County, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Lake Woebegone

Posted on August 27, 2013 by AnnieRie

If you remember the news from Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, the men are good looking and the children are above average, you have to chuckle at the latest list of the “wealthiest zip codes in the Baltimore area”.

Patch Report from the Baltimore Business Journal shows nine of the ten in Howard County. But, what does it really mean? All this data. Statistics. Lies, damn lies and statistics, as they say.

We live at the boundary of number one and three in their list. I still have to stop and remember that median and mean are two very different measures.

So, number one is Dayton, 21036 with a median household income of $166,007, an average net worth of $1.85 million, and median home value of $732,222.

Number three, which is Glenelg, 21737 has a median income of $159,570, average net worth of $1.86 million, and median home value of $720,833.

Number two on their list is West Friendship, number four is Cooksville and number five is Fulton (including Maple Lawn). All of them surround us. Lower down the list were Glenwood, Highland, Clarksville and Ellicott City.

OK, I look at these lists and think of the Lake Woebegone quote, and say to myself, wow, we are so below average in our house.

And, then I remember the McMansions, which drive that median number way up. There are dozens of McMansions being built here. Where it used to be a three acre minimum for building, and land prices used to be cheap, now they are cramming huge houses on an acre. I can’t figure how they get wells, septic fields, driveways, massive homes and roads all squished together without interference in the newer neighborhoods. These homes start at $700,000 and keep going into the stratosphere. They line Triadelphia, and Ten Oaks, and Howard Roads.

We don’t feel like this is the wealthiest part of the world. My neighbors are teachers, firemen, bus drivers, people who bought here decades ago when land was cheap, relative to Columbia. But then, we don’t live in those new expensive developments either.

Every time I see references to the “rich rural west”, I cringe. It’s only the influx of the mansions that is driving these numbers higher. Back 15 or so years ago, there were less than 1000 homes in the entire zip code of Dayton. Still some small farms, too.

Hundreds of new homes have been built during the boom years, and even now three new developments are adding more and more large homes on relatively small lots.

It is weird to see the changes that have occurred just in the nine years we have been here.

Oh well, being below average has its benefits. Less taxes, but still the “distinction” of living in one of the richest zip codes out there.

Here’s to those “damn lies”.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Howard County, West HoCo and tagged commentary, community, hoco loco, Howard County, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Rush Hour

Posted on August 26, 2013 by AnnieRie

Something we really try to avoid, now that we are retired. Particularly on the first day of school. Today unfortunately we needed to take my husband’s car into the dealer for a recall and some “triage”. For the second time, a mouse crawled into the blower motor box and became mincemeat last Saturday.

You need to take it in, fast, before it really smells. The hazards of living in the country. Animals in unlikely places. So, at least we avoided Rte. 32 and all the commuter traffic, using the back roads to get to Clarksville.

The west county ICC. Triadelphia, Folly Quarter and Sheppard’s Lane to Rte. 108. At least we didn’t hit the long lines waiting to turn into Glenelg Country School.

This is one of the worst commuting days, of all those that we used to have the longest delays when we worked. The absolute worst, though, was always the day before Thanksgiving.

I-70 just after noon last year. After I ran the back roads to England Acres for Thanksgiving items, and to Boarman’s to get my turkey. I was reminded of Maple Lawn today, as we went past the farm on our way home from our errands. A visit to the new copying place in Maple Lawn, and a stop at Harris Teeter for a few staples I needed.

We use the back roads as much as we can. Guilford Road. Hall Shop and Brown’s Bridge. Highland Road. Since retiring, we really do try not to schedule things for that 7-9am or 3-6pm time frame.

Or, we just use the scenic routes. Today we caught a glimpse of the turkeys “free ranging” under the solar panels. That certainly is not something you will see on an interstate.

Thanks to their web site, I found the picture. I know I have one somewhere but I can’t find it.

Yep, summer in Howard County is coming to an end. Time to start thinking of fall, and pumpkins, and apples, and turkeys.

hocoblogs@@@

Replacing River Hill

Posted on August 17, 2013 by AnnieRie

With Turf Valley.

It’s about a half mile further to get to Turf Valley than it is to drive to Clarksville for shopping. Slowly, but surely, I am replacing Clarksville and Roots, with Turf Valley and Harris Teeter.

Today, after a fun morning watching Dr. Mike Raupp aka Bug Man give a talk, walk and show neat things to the families at the Howard County Conservancy, I stopped at Harris Teeter for a few items I needed. Like K Cups. And my husband’s favorite cereals.

More on the Conservancy event in a future post, but today I want to show a few pictures of how the new town center is shaping up.

The Facci is coming along. With its outdoor dining area.

A few more stores have opened. We are waiting for Petite Cellars to open, to see how it compares to Perfect Pour.

And, Xitomate, to see how their Mexican fare stacks up to some of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

All in all, I had a fun and productive Saturday morning. I do like the fact that Harris Teeter is really good about getting you to an open checker as quickly as possible. I hope they do well. I know they are more expensive than Weis, but they definitely have better organic pricing than Roots. I will still use Roots for some of those awesome ready made dips, hummus, and hard to find items, but that convenience of finding organic veggies not currently available at our farmer’s markets, makes Harris Teeter a good fit for me.

Besides, as I have said before, we go to the landfill often. Harris Teeter is right south of there. So convenient for us. And, right down the road from the Conservancy. A simple stop on the way home after volunteering. What’s not to like?

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Howard County, West HoCo, Wine and tagged community, Food, foodie, Howard County, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

A Picture Perfect Day …

Posted on August 14, 2013 by AnnieRie

… for picking peaches. Oh, and Blackberries, too. At Larriland.

I dropped my husband off at his monthly Glenwood DX Association radio group’s luncheon at Town Grill in Lisbon, then headed off to pick blackberries.

An hour or so later, and five pounds of berries in the back of the car, I picked him up so he could help me pick peaches. Twenty seven pounds of peaches in less than 20 minutes.

Gorgeous peaches at $1.25 a pound if you pick more than 20 pounds. Tomorrow will be peach blanching, freezing and blending day.

The weather was perfect. There were lots of people at the peach picking sites, but I had most of the blackberry bush area to myself. My own row, as a matter of fact.

After a stop back at the red barn to get some canning supplies, an eggplant and a couple of red peppers to top off the ajvar, and home to process berries.

The best berries go into the freezer whole, are flash frozen, then packed in small bags. I got eight bags with about a cup of berries in each one. The ones on the top left are the less than perfect. I will drop them into boiling water briefly using a strainer, then put them in the blender with a little honey and just a touch of balsamic. They will be strained into syrup then put in an ice cube tray to freeze. The basis for vinaigrettes all winter. The top right are the “Eat Now” berries. For cereal. Yogurt. Salads. Snacks. They will be gone in two or three days probably, they are so good.

As for a few of the ripest peaches, they became part of dinner tonight.

Right on the grill with lemon olive oil and balsamic glaze.

Served with some Breezy Willow kielbasa, a local wine from Big Cork, and some pesto pasta salad.

Head on out to Larriland. The peaches and blackberries are down the road from the farm entrance (stay on Rte. 94 south) and a right turn into the picking areas.

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather, West HoCo, Wine and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, grilling, hobbies, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, weather, West HoCo, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Life Skills

Posted on August 7, 2013 by AnnieRie

Every year we spend more time at the Fair watching the 4H club members show and care for their animals. Every year I marvel at just how mature, responsible and talented these children are. I can’t believe how poised, articulate, and unflustered they are, even when their animals don’t always behave.

Today we watched the junior swine judging.

These are the eight year olds.

The other day we watched the Jersey cattle show.

Tomorrow we will be there watching the sheep. Today there was quite a bit of grooming going on.

I also had to wander over and take pictures of the pygmy goats that are being raised by friends of ours.

If you go to the fair, don’t just spend time on the midway. Head down here.

Stop in and watch the 4Hers take care of their animals. They are truly learning life skills. How to be responsible. How to gracefully lose. How to gracefully win.

Worth the price of admission.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Farms, Howard County, People, West HoCo and tagged commentary, community, farms, Howard County, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Opening Day at the Fair

Posted on August 3, 2013 by AnnieRie

My favorite day to visit. There aren’t large crowds yet. Things are getting organized. But, our favorite part of the fair are the young farmers and the animals.

There are still more than 300 farms in Howard County. Over 300 members of 4H clubs specializing in agriculture. Over 600 if you include other interests.

I love watching the little ones handle their livestock.

Today we were watching the 4H and open Jersey cattle show. And waiting for the farm and garden building to open after judging. Talked to a number of friends who farm, including friends from the farmers markets.

A trip down the midway to watch those on the rides, even though it was drizzling.

Then off to see how I did. I had four entries this year. And, THREE RIBBONS. OK, batting .750 isn’t bad. I got my highest ribbon in tomatoes this year. A third premium for my orange romas.

A fifth for my heirlooms, and a third for my herbs. Not bad for a rainy frustrating year. In four years, I went from four to seven ribbons this year.

The herbs.

The Paul Robeson. One tomato is eaten. The other left for display. Heirlooms are judged on taste more than looks.

This year the grand champion veggie was a really nice specimen of squash.

We will be out at the fair at least three more days this week. Lots to see and do. If you have never watched the 4H shows, you really should take the time some year to watch.

And we will be there to cheer our friends on, at the shows and the auction Friday.

hocoblogs@@@

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Posted in Community, Farms, Food, Gardening, Hobbies, Howard County, Local Businesses, People, West HoCo and tagged community, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hobbies, Howard County, tomatoes, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Simplest Summer Pleasures in the Garden

Posted on July 13, 2013 by AnnieRie

In a rare sun sighting, I was out checking on the state of the flowers, herbs, veggies and of course, the bunnies and the butterflies.

The butterfly bush finally bloomed and an Eastern tiger swallowtail was having a great time feasting on the flowers.

While out there I noticed that the yellow gladiolus are now coming into bloom. I am bringing in 5-6 new stalks every day. All this rain has created an explosion of them.

As for the herbs, the rosemary and thyme are so thick and getting so large, I am cutting them every few days. Rosemary is drying in the garage. I want this plant to remain short and bushy. As for the thyme, it is heading across the garden and creeping around other bushes.

On the tomato front, finally, the large cherry tomatoes and the sun sugar tomatoes are starting to turn color. I may finally have cherry tomatoes for salads by the middle of the coming week (three weeks later than last year).

As for the bunnies, they are overrunning the yard. At least they seem to be leaving my herbs and veggies alone for the moment. Half the time they don’t even run when I am out there.

Looks like if it stops raining, I need to do weeding again. They are rampant from all the rain. And, I have no idea where these volunteer plants came from, right in the middle of the herbs.

All in all, a good day out in the garden. Now, let’s bring on some sunshine and get the tomatoes ready for canning, eating and the fair. I did indulge in one of my favorite summer breakfasts. This was a CSA tomato, but I do it all the time with mine once they start producing.

Cut the tomato into thick slices, sprinkle with salt, eat it standing over the sink to catch the juices. Yum!

hocofood@@@

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Posted in Food, Gardening, Locavore, Nature, Weather, West HoCo and tagged Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Locavore, nature, tomatoes, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

The Blue(berry) Plate Special

Posted on June 29, 2013 by AnnieRie

Lunch after Larriland, and berry picking.

We had considered a visit to Town Grill in Lisbon, but it was packed. So, we came home and made a salad that screams summer. More on the recipe in tomorrow’s post, but first some pictures from a busy Saturday on the opening day of blueberry picking season.

No matter where you looked there were cars and people. Families, couples, singles, we heard all sorts of languages, too. Lots of people picking blueberries and tart cherries. We did see cars over in the strawberry fields, for what ended up being the last day for strawberries.

The black raspberries need a few more days to ripen. We will be heading out there Tuesday or Wednesday if we hear they are ready.

These are the black raspberries, just below some of the blueberry fields. We picked almost 6 1/2 pounds of blueberries.

My final tally was 21 cups of blueberries. Seventeen bags in the freezer. One I gave to my neighbor and three cups in the fridge to make fresh baked goodies and to use on salads and cereal.

I also went up to the barn and got some sweet corn, and some sweet cherries. My husband is devouring the cherries but I did get two bags of a cup each, pitted and halved, to freeze. The rest. Being eaten every chance we get.