Good Life Farm

[ol_ironstomach]

Good Life Farm sits on 37 acres along MD 28 just west of MD 118. The modest stand, which is situated at the end of their driveway, is open afternoons until 7pm, Wednesday through Sunday. On Thursdays, they split their stock between the Darnestown stand and the Potomac village farmer's market.

I spoke a bit with Larry, the owner and a lifelong Darnestown resident. Curiously, at one time he'd attempted to grow Cabernet Sauvignon grapes on the site, but threw in the towel once he got fed up with the amount of chemical spray required to battle fungus in the area, and the frustrations of severe weather and late-season rains. The current farm grows sweet corn, squash, tomatoes, and other crops (some nice looking white eggplant today), but his favorites are the lettuce varieties that should be ready in a few weeks. He makes heavy use of site-made compost consisting of well-rotted manure from his horses, and collected leaves from the sizeable stand of old oak trees on the property. This is the farm stand's first year of operations; it opened in July, and Larry expects to keep it open until late December.

We'd had their corn before, but today I bought some just-picked okra and squash, and a western cantaloupe.

[bookluvingbabe]

Thanks for the heads up! Sounds like a nice little outing I can do with BLBaby one afternoon.

[DanielK]

We'd had their corn before, but today I bought some just-picked okra and squash, and a western cantaloupe.

How is their stuff?

[ol_ironstomach]

How is their stuff?

It's good...I wouldn't make a special trip from afar and he's not growing anything really unusual, but it's good fresh local produce. The stand is small enough that I suspect it's just a hobby for them.

I applied the Bittman stir-fry recipe to the squash last night, and it was delish. Okra are a bit on the large side (4 to 5") so better suited to whole frying than gumbo or stew...luckily I've got plenty of cornmeal, and an urge to use the cast iron.