Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Gorman Produce Farm Update

I was a little early last month to write about the Gorman Produce Farm, but they're up and organized now.

You need to check out this Laurel farm stand if you're interested in good vegetables. Lydia and Dave Liker have leased the farm on Gorman Road, and they sell produce just in from the field. I stopped by Tuesday and picked up two kinds of squash and some nice sweet peppers. The tomatoes look gorgeous, but my entire crop ripened in the past week so I'm designing every menu around home-grown.

The Gorman Produce Farm sells to the public on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday and Saturdays, according to the woman who helped me Tuesday. They're open until about 5:30 or 6 pm, but be patient because it's a family farm not a supermarket. Just look for the sign on Gorman Road a few miles east of Rte 29. It says "open" or "closed." Right now, they have onions, squash, several tomato varieties, melons, and eggplant. Last weekend, Bets found the lemon cucumbers pictured above and posted a bunch of photos. (Thanks Bets!!) The Gorman fields are filled with an array of produce that should run into the fall -- cauliflower, fennel, lettuces, and more.

Much of the Liker's produce goes out through their "community supported agriculture" program where people paid $550 for weekly boxes of vegetables from June through October. But they sell everything else to the public.

Gorman Produce Farm
11051 Gorman Road
Laurel, MD 20723
301-957-6884

NEAR: This is on Gorman Road east of Rte 29 and west of U.S. 1. This is south of Rte 32, just minutes south of Columbia and almost walking distance from King's Contrivance.

From Broken Land Parkway, take Broken Land south of Rte 32 until it deadends. Turn left and then right on Murray Hill Road. Take that until it deadends into Gorman Road. Turn right on Gorman. You'll see the farm's sign on the left just before a point where the road bends to the right.

From Rte 29, take the exit for Johns Hopkins Road, which is also marked for Gorman. Turn left at the top of the ramp and go through the next traffic circle. The road changes name to Gorman, and you just drive until you see the farm's sign on the right at a point where the road bends to the left.

From U.S. 1, go west at the light for Gorman Road. You'll pass the Savage library. Gorman Road actually turns right. The "straight ahead" changes name to Skylark Boulevard as you enter a housing development. After you turn right to "stay" on Gorman, the road curves and curves. You'll see the farm's sign on the left just before a point where the road bends to the right.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm kind of underwhelmed by the farm at the moment. I really want to love it, but some stuff I've gotten there wasn't all that special.

The fresh onions were great, but the tomatoes were picked under-ripe and still have some green when you cut them open. I don't think the cantaloupe was allowed to ripen enough either.