Block · one region of the page, as the scanner read it. It may hold a whole story, part of one, several, or an advertisement; stitching blocks into articles is the next step. Text is supplied OCR.
Page 9 · column 2 of 4 · from the scan, no model involved
By LISA G. CURRIE
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
(Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on marketing farm produce in Rappaha)inock County.)
Nearly everyone enjoys the taste and smell of freshly picked fruits and vegetables.
As spring rippens into summer, the availability of sun reddened strawberries, juicy peaches and fresh com-on-the-cob becomes a reality.
Ivan Hall of Sperryville Farms in Sperryville and Manfred Call of Muskrat Haven Farms in Amissville offer local consumers, Northern Virginia visitors and nightly diners the option of fresh verses frozen or canned.
“Pick-your-own vegetables is becoming more and more fashionable due to labor costs and personal tastes,” Rappahannock County extension agent for agriculture Tommy Williams said.
“Due to housing regulations and migrant labors laws, farmers are changing to pick-your-own,” he said.
“Harvesting costs are very high,” he explained, adding farmers can avoid the costs by offering the public a chance to choose their own produce and fruit at their own ease.
“People are then guaranteed their vegetables and fruit are fresh,” he said, adding many people enjoy the time spent in the field, “making a picnic” out of the chore.
People flock to roadside stands and march bravely into fields unpicked before to gather their own harvests.
“We get well over 1,000 people here in a season,” Manfred Call said of his pick-your-own farm located just off U.S. 211 outside Amissville.
Besides the local pick-your-own market, Mr. Call and Mr. Hall both supply local businesses with necesarry fresh produce and flowers.
“Bleu Rock and The Inn request fresh items often,” Mr. Call said, adding nearly once a day fresh produce is sent to a local restaurant.
When bedding plants and hanging baskets are replaced with more seasonal items in greenhouses, Sperryville Farms’ Ivan Hall fills the dish with fresh baskets of flowers often started at his own Sperry ville Farms, ' located on U.S. 211 at Old Hollow.
“Often for an open house or the like, I will be called
88.8%