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By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON
Rappahannock Nm Staff Writer
Outside, gray clouds spit snow as the thermometer dipped well below the freezing mark. Wind whipped around the corners of the old Sperryville farmers cooperative, slicing through overcoats and leg warmers and adding a chill factor that dragged the temperature down to near zero.
Not the kind of weather for growing a crop.
But despite the arctic cold, inside the co-op’s storage building delicate pale green plants inched their way up from hydroponically nurished roots, thriving in the dark and humid warmth of an artificial climate reminiscent of Virginia in the dog day evenings of August.
“We specialize in doing amazing things!” joked Witold Kuncewicz about the harvest. Wit has provided expertise in basic technology and marketing for his wife Dorothy’s endive “factory,” the first commercial production of this European delicacy in the United States. In January, “freshly picked, locally grown French endive—U.S.A.” from Rappahannock Fruit and Produce in Sperryville will be sold in 78 Giant Food Stores.
For the Kuncewiczes, it’s the second step in a major undertaking that began six years ago. “We’ve been pro
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