Hit Up Larriland Farm And The New Town Grill -- BBQ And Smoked Meats Come To Ellicott City

Sliced smoked lamb with chips and coleslaw at the new Town Grill in Ellicott City

Some things keep getting better -- and one of those is a trip to pick-your-own fruit and then to feast on barbecue and smoked meats.

Larriland Farm in Woodbine is one of my favorite places in Howard County.  I've been going for more than a decade, and it truly gets better each time.  They've got delicious fruit -- and vegetables and flowers.  Plus credit card machines in the fields.  What else do you want?

Lil' Chow and I drove out I-70 Saturday, and we hit the blueberry fields at the end of the opening rush.  Honestly, we only hit about 10 bushes.  The plants were covered in ripe blueberries.  We worked mostly standing still, and we got three pounds of berries by just reaching out.

I was pleased to see that Lil' Chow could mostly identify the ripe fruit.  Our cardboard box had a few purple berries, but this seemed like an idea field for kids because even a four-year-old could reach the bushes, see the ripe blue ones, and avoid crushing them like we did with strawberries a few year ago.

Apple Picking And Pulled Pork -- It Would Be Tradition If It Weren't All New This Time

Apple picking at Larriland Farm

I have been to Larriland Farm in many roles, and you should really check it out this week as some gorgeous weather offers you apples, pumpkins and carnival fun.

Larriland -- in Woodbine -- a true Howard County gem.  Pick-your-own fruits and vegetables all summer, then a fall festival with apple fritters, hay rides, barbecue and more through this season.

Hayrides

We picked apples Saturday with a family who first met me at Larriland.  That was years ago when I went as "guy who Ms. HowChow is dating."  I have gone as a couple.  I have gone in groups.  I have gone as "guy who has bought a diamond ring."   I went Saturday as Dad.

Every trip was wonderful, and I can't suggest it enough. Sun-warmed peaches are so delicious that you should put them now on your calendar for next summer. But the pumpkin-apple season takes a splendid second place, and Larriland augments with all kinds of kid-friendly activities like animals to check out and a hay bale maze to run through. On weekends, they have hay rides and food like apple fritters and hamburgers.

Lil' Chow just wanted an apple. I have been serving him diced apple since he came home. A few times, I went wild by making two-bite apple sticks.  So this rookie Dad had to laugh when Lil' Chow took a small apple from a tree and proceeded to chomp off bites. Apparently not the choking hazard that I had expected -- although he did feed me the skin.  I think it is too tough for his teeth.

Sweet potato fries and pork at Town Grill

One lesson for 2014:  Larriland's pumpkins are growing on another farm that they manage.  It's on the right side of the road before the main Larriland complex.  So drive a little slow and turn right into that farm when you see a field of pumpkins.

After our apple picking, we squeezed into a table at Town Grill in Lisbon for a lunch.  The pulled pork sandwich continues to be one of my favorites, and Mrs. HowChow pulled off a new hit by ordering sweet potato fries.

Town Grill is just off the traffic circle between I-70 and Larriland.  It's a barbecue joint inside a gas station, and it's really worth checking out -- as I have written many times in the past.

One more lesson from our folly:  You don't need to squeeze into an indoor table like we did.  Town Grille has enclosed their patio with screens and a plastic that should keep it comfortable even with a slight chill in the air.  They have several tables out there, and we could have spread out.

Mark Your Calendar Now For A Day At Larriland; Cherries Were Magic, But You Can Get More

Yellow and red cherries from Larriland Farm

You need to mark your calendar now for a day at Larriland Farm, and you can only hope for something as glorious as last weekend.

Larriland will have a flow of great "pick-your-own" fruits and vegetables through October.  But this weekend they had cherries.

Larriland knows how to handle crowds

That's almost a miracle.  Among the trees, we talked to one of Larriland's owners who described years and years where the cherry trees don't fruit because the weather doesn't cooperate.  This year filled the grove with cherries, but this last week's rain threaten to cause them all to burst.  So the Larriland crew had been applying calcium four times a day to keep everything firm.

That's how we ended up standing inside magical trees on Saturday morning.  Mrs. HowChow had gotten a Larriland email saying the cherry trees would be open on Saturday.  We arrived before the fields open, and there were already dozens of people parked and picking.

The fruit is really fun.  Sweet cherries in deep red and dark yellow.  Trees with hundreds of ripe cherries hanging in arms length.  We picked like maniacs.  We stopped only because our boxes seemed ridiculous, and we ended up with almost 20 pounds.  I should have spent all Sunday putting them away.  I'll need to plan one project -- freeze, jam, bourbon cherries -- for each night this week.

Larriland is one of my favorite places in all of Howard County.  The family-run farm in Woodbine is an easy 30 minutes from most of the county.  They just do everything well.  Signs take you to the fields.  People direct traffic, give you bags, help you know what to pick, and check you out right next to the fields.  They were packed Saturday for cherries and strawberries, and everything was friendly and smooth.

Challah rolls from The Breadery

The cherries will disappear, but you should pencil in a day or two now to make a trip to Larriland.  Blueberries and peaches, then apples, tomatoes and pumpkins.  I post similar advice almost every year after we have a magical day.  Can tomatoes.  Go for the weekend festival atmosphere before Halloween.  It's great for a date, for taking kids, or for meeting friends out in the country.

If you do, don't miss stopping at the big barn in the main part of Larriland.  They sell all kinds of vegetables and fruits, along with some sodas, candies, and the dried fruit candy that you need to try at the register.  They also sell breads from The Breadery in Oella -- including challah rolls that looked like cousins to hot dog buns that I have deemed "the best hot dog buns you'll find anywhere."  I bought two bags in preparation for our next ground meat purchase from Laurel Meat Market.

For years, I have championed the barbecue and smoked fish from the Town Grille in Lisbon.  That's a half-block out of your way from Larriland, and you'll have a terrific lunch there.  Now, I'll add some alternatives with posts later this week.  Jeff from Southern Skies Coffee Roasters turned me on to Sykesville, and I heartily recommend a short detour for lunch and shopping.

Winter Is Coming! Can Tomatoes To Keep You Warm -- Even The Ones On Sale At Larriland

Canned tomato sauce with Larriland tomatoes

If you have ever thought about canning, think about picking tomatoes and firing up some pots in the next several weeks.

Winter is coming.  Supermarket tomatoes will become hard, flavorless and have glowing blue eyes.

You can can up some tomatoes -- along with pickles and other vegetables.  I encouraged canning before -- and canning cookbooks.  It's a fun project, and the canned tomatoes are a treat as they pour summer into a mid-winter pasta sauce or pizza.

Today, Larriland Farm in Woodbine even has a sale on tomatoes.  I've never heard of this before.  The full-price tomatoes are spectacular and reason enough to pick at Larriland, then go home to can.  That's what I did with early season plum tomatoes over the summer.  But Larriland has announced a sale on one of its tomato fields.  (You can also get chard, blackberries, apples and more.)

If you can't go today, Larriland says tomato season runs into early October.  Pick another day.  This is a spectacular season to visit as apples and vegetables run into the pumpkins, hay rides and Halloween activities next month.  For more information about Howard County farms, my favorite source is AnnieRie's blog where she writes about harvests and products beings sold.  Check out her posts about farms, including local chickens for sale at England Acres.

Seriously, tomato sauce is a terrific first project.  You can find all kinds of recipes on the Web or in cookbooks.  Basically, you cook down tomatoes with onions and herbs or spices.  Then, you boil sealed jars to sterilize the sauce and seal up the Mason jars.  I really suggest it.  

I also suggest the amusement of early-morning tomato picking.  In mid-afternoon, Larriland fields are full of kids and people chatting.  But we hit up the tomato fields when they opened on a Saturday morning.  Serious pickers.  All adults.  Some who looked like they were going to re-sell at a market.  And everyone seriously pulling red tomatoes off the vines.  We were giggling about how everyone seemed so serious, and we picked probably twice what we needed.  It was peer pressure.  

For basic canning supplies, check out my 2011 post or look in Kendall Hardware in Clarksville or your local grocery store.

Mark Your Calendar Now For Town Grill's Barbecue And Pick-Your-Own Fun At Larriland

Brisket and BBQ chicken sandwiches at Town Grill

This week is a gift.  Don't waste it.

Instead of sweating through late summer, you can enjoy some 80s over the next few days to pick-your-own peaches and enjoy your barbecue sandwiches.

Larriland peaches

Larriland Farm in Woodbine goes into overdrive between mid-July and Halloween.  You'll be able to fill your trunk any day.  Right now, there are peaches, blackberries, and beets along with the last blueberries and the first tomatoes.  Soon, apples and other vegetables will start up and run into the season when you can make a day of pumpkins, hay rides and fried apple fritters.

But for now, you should pair your farm visit with barbecue from Town Grill in Lisbon.  We broke new territory and ordered chicken and brisket on our last visit.  We each got a great sandwich.  Tender, moist meat.  Fresh basic rolls.  A good pickle.

My brisket was perfect.  Tender without being soft, the slices of meat were delicious, especially dipped in a little container of extra sauce.  Mrs. HowChow relished her chicken.  It looked like white meat cooked in Town Grill's barbecue sauce.  We gave up our usual pulled pork to try the new sandwiches, and we were pleased to see that everything lives up that high standard.

Town Grill is a really special spot.  It's literally in a Citgo station, and its kitchen takes part in Restaurant Weeks.  No joking around.  They smoke their own trout and salmon, both of which are worth taking home.  They have also run Thursday night specials for Restaurant Weeks -- topped off on August 1 with local lamb kabobs served with seasonal vegetables and rice pilaf for $11.13.

Throughout the year, Town Grill offers a deep menu of breakfast specials, sandwiches and platters.  On summer Saturdays, they make ribs.  They suggest calling ahead to reserve a rack.  I don't know if that's necessary, but I know the ribs are worth a phone call.

Not ripe!  Even the black ones!

Truly, you should mark your calendar for a day spent out in the western county.  Larriland is beautiful.  You can pick your own, then shop in the large barn full of produce, drinks, candies and canning supplies.  Larriland  can host anything from a romantic date to a child's adventure to an extravaganza of fruit and vegetable canning.

Today we got peaches and about a pound of blackberries.  The blackberries are delicious, but it's always tough to find the truly ripe ones.  Black isn't ripe.  The ripe ones almost fall off in your fingers.  We watched people fill containers with black berries they were wrestling off the vines, and we worry those weren't sweet.  Check out all the Larriland posts.

Seriously consider Town Grill's smoked salmon if you can talk yourself out of a barbecue sandwich.  They were making "BLTs" with salmon and bacon.  If you go, notice that there is lots of parking around the gas station.  There is a lot across the street and another just east of the station.

Cookbooks For Next Summer: Flip Now To See If You Want To Pickle Or Can The Best Of 2013

Cukes, hot peppers and snow peas ready to be pickled last summer

Think now about the upcoming spring, and start to make a few plans if you want to play with canning.

Over the past two years, I have dabbled a bit in preserving vegetables.  Some spectacular tomato sauce and pickled beets.  Some good salsas, a tomato relish, and yellow tomato jam.  Still learning how to pickle cucumbers successfully.  All in all, I have poured a lot of vinegar, and it has been mid-winter fun to pour the flavor of summertime out of a jar.

The real point of canning is to grab a whole lot of something when it's cheap or when you have time to cook.  Then you preserve that flavor in glass jars for the rushed nights when opening a can feels like a victory.

For my ingredients, I have gone two ways.  The romantic is Larriland Farm in Woodbine, where I have picked blueberries, tomatoes and beets on the volume discount.  The practical is the Asian groceries stores like Lotte or H Mart in Catonsville.  Beets, snow peas, cucumbers and more are seasonably cheap, and I buy a bunch to put some away.

Either way, it's a fun project for anyone who likes to cook -- but maybe bursts of cooking rather than steady time every week.  It's great fun to put away salsa or jelly or relish and then be able to create a weeknight meal with the twist of a wrist.  Simple tomato sauce is a revelation in January.  It's like covering pasta with the taste of August.  Grate some cheese, and it's so much better than a jar of commercial sauce.

Apple Fritters And Fun At Larriland Farm

Apple fritters

Start planning now.  Last weekend was perfect, and the perfect place to be was Larriland Farm in Woodbine.

Now, you need to hope for beautiful weather next week and start planning your trip for apples, pumpkins and Halloween fun.

Enterprise apples -- sweet, all purpose

The apple fritters alone are worth the drive.  The irregular cousins of donuts pop out of the fryer filled with apple chunks and then shower in powdered sugar.  Get a hot cider and munch down watching the crowd.

The October visits still focus on the big three:  apples, pumpkins and hay rides.  On Saturday, we walked across two hills of pumpkins, just having fun with the views until we realized that the best pumpkins were the first few that we had found.

But no problem.  We had an equally beautiful walk to fill two bags of apples, then returned to the farm where Larriland gets better every year.  They bulked up on food this year.  Those apple fritters plus separate stands with kettle corn and barbecue.  The barbecue comes from Town Grill is Lisbon, so we highly recommend it.  (Great sandwich: Pulled pork.  Awesome visual:  Kids chomping turkey legs.)

Plus, the Larriland folks actually make the farm better as well.  The stand stocks all kinds of product, along with apple cider, canning supplies and candy.  They expanded the parking and added a second road past the farm out to the apples.  Even with a packed house Saturday, the traffic flowed.  People smiled in line.  Go this weekend.  You can't have this much outdoors until April.

Larriland has also added fields of broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and spinach to go with the standby pumpkins.  Cool to me, but no one clicks when I post about "Pick-Your-Own Vegetables." So I'll tart this up with apple fritters and lure down here to know you can select your own brassica.

Pumpkin fields

Sweetest Season At Larriland; When A Pick-Your-Own Farm Becomes A Great Bring-Your-Own Date

Peaches at Larriland

The sweetest season of the year has begun, and you need to get to Larriland Farm to pick yourself a piece this fall.

The summer fruits have truly arrived with peaches, blackberries, and raspberries.  The tomato fields are packed with red.  The apples have started, and they'll run through October with the pumpkins and the hay-maze-weekends.

Last week, we drove to Woodbine for peaches and tomatoes.  Like 70+ pounds.  It was easy.  We filled two boxes of peaches from three or four trees.  No one needs two boxes.  We have had two pies, four pints of salsa, and cut fruit at every moment.  They're heavy with juice and sweet throughout.  They're terrific gifts.

My peach advice is "Bring a wheelbarrow."  Larriland has nice plastic ones, and you take over when someone else checks out.  My tomato advice is "Be picky."  Orange tomatoes will ripen into red.  But cracks and splits will rot too soon.  Mrs. HowChow was picky.  I made mistakes.

Tomatoes -- going in sauce

Real tomatoes are spectacular.  The flavor keeps me from eating them 10 months of the year.  Chop them.  Mix with basil.  You can make a meal by putting that on toast and calling it bruschetta.  Chop, cook and cook down 24 pounds of them, and you can end up with 6+ quarts of canned tomato sauce -- but that will cost you the better part of the day.

So much cooking that my feet hurt.

Seriously, you should go see Larriland.  It's 30 minutes from most of Howard County, an easy drive on U.S. 70.  In October, they add food on the weekend and a maze of hay bales for the kids.  For kids, it's a great day, especially if you pick a pumpkin.  

For other folks, it's a great date -- pick up some barbecue from Town Grill in Lisbon, then drive to the farm to pick apples, picnic with your barbecue, and maybe get a jack-o-lantern to carve together.  Very easy to bring friends along.  Mrs. HowChow's friends gave me the once over on an early Larriland trip.

Blueberries And Beets At Larriland

Blueberries from Larriland

Our Larriland Farm season started a month earlier this year when we actually got there for blueberries.

Out in the fields

Often, we arrive in peach season.  But we got a canning book on Saturday, so we went out Sunday afternoon to pick some things to preserve.  First, we went to the blueberry fields.  Remember our lesson: Walk to the far part of the field.  We slogged a long time on plants that other people had been picking all week.

I had to laugh when we finally go to the far end and found plans with more than three or four ripe berries.  At th far end, you could just stand and pull handfuls.  By the end, we had 10 pounds of fruit.  I canned some.  I hope those will become a base for drinks and ice cream sauce.  We'll freeze the rest and make sorbet over time.

Larriland is spectacular.  If you haven't been, you need to plan on blueberries now, tomatoes, peaches, and blackberries in the summer heat, then apples and pumpkins in the fall.  The fruit just tastes better.  I have been popping handfuls of blueberries, and they're absolutely perfect.

Honey sticks!

And that's not even taking in the beets.  Beets are the easiest pick-your-own field.  Just pull them out of the ground.  We got 20 pounds in minutes, and I roasted them all.  I turned some into pickles.  I need plans for the rest.

Larriland is a great activity with kids.  It's a project for a serious picker who wants to cook or can.  Don't miss their expanded barn where they sell already-picked produce and some other treats.  We always get dried fruit candy for the ride home.  We also bought McCutcheon's sodas -- black cherry and sarsaparilla -- and some of the honey sticks.

The vegetables are still a deal, but beets were more than we paid last fall.  It was 99 cents a pound if you buy 20 pounds.  That was 79 cents last fall.  Remember the beet rule: Bring a knife to slice the stems.  Keep the greens that you'll saute with garlic and dress with a little oil and vinegar.

If you want to try Larriland, remember that you can get food for a picnic out there.  Harvest Fried Chicken is just north of U.S. 70.  Town Grille in Lisbon sells barbecue almost between U.S. 70 and the farm.

If you want to try to can, I recommend buying a canning pot from Amazon.  Ball sells jars all over the place, including Kendall Hardware in Clarksville.  But the price of the big pots makes that a deal.

Are You Watching Strawberries For Me?

Gorman Produce Farm says the strawberries are coming -- and they're early.  Please let me know when you see the sign change to "They're Here" or when you hear that Larriland is letting people pick their own.

Larriland Farm In Fall: Apples, Pumpkins, And More Beets Than You Beat With A Stick

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

I come to pickle beets, not to praise them.

I have chuckled for several years about signs for "pick your own beets" when we went to Larriland to pick our apples and pumpkins.

But we went to Larriland Farm yesterday and took home 10 pounds of beets -- which turns out to be only seven and a half pounds, but more on that later.  The plan is to pickle the beets this year with a few ideas from the Put 'em Up! cookbook and a horseradish idea from the Web.

You really can't beat Larriland this time of year.  Even without the special weekend activities like hay rides and apple fritters, the place was packed.  They had two apple varieties on the trees, plus three more that they were selling from crates because their own trees hadn't been pollinated during our cloudy spring.

We went huge on the apples, including matsu from the crates, stamen and braeburn from the trees.  Then a bag of beets where the secret was clearly to walk far down the row to find the bigger ones. (Bring a knife.  You want to save beet greens that look good, but cut off the ones that are ragged, insect eaten or covered with discolored spots.  I probably saved half.  That was two or more pounds with all the stems.  They're easy to saute -- and a scattering a Harris Teeter chicken sausage bumps up the flavor.)  Then our younger friends got some time in the hay maze.

That leaves me with a pile of jars from Kendall Hardware and a huge baking tray of roasted beets.  Wish me luck!

Whenever you go to Larriland, you need to check out the main farm stand.  Check out the crazy squashes -- most of them edible!  And check out the apple sauce made with Larriland apples.  That seemed new to me.


Prices -- $1.29/pound for beets, 79 cents if you buy 20 pounds.  $1.69/pounds for apples, $1.29 if you buy 20 pounds.

Pickled Tomatoes (Remember That Larriland Trip)

Beginning pickles can be pretty harsh, but it's always a nice lesson where you eat the results.

The pickled cherry tomatoes above were my first attempt preserving a little summer in the fridge.  Those are just refrigerator pickles -- a brine of vinegar, water and spices poured over jars of Larriland Farm tomatoes.

After a few weeks, I gifted four small jars to friends and popped open one of the two big ones.  Let's be honest: The vinegar is on the front end when you pop one of these babies in your mouth.  (It's on the front, middle and end, says Mrs. HowChow.)  But I like them.  The vinegar is balanced a bit by tomato sweetness and especially by the still-firm texture of of the cherry's flesh.  I think they'd be best served with other strong flavors, maybe as a pungent note on a cheese plate or an antipasta.

The other option is using the pickled tomatoes as an ingredient.  Cut them into a pasta or tuna salad.  That's my plan for next week.  Either way, my two jars will carry my tomatoes through the fall -- until I'm ready to break open the tomato sauce and the pickled green tomatoes biding their time in my closet.

Pick Your Own Tomatoes At Larriland, But You Don't Have To Pick Between The Barbecue

You need to mark your calendar now for a trip or two to Larriland Farm because the pick-your-own fields are hitting their peak.

Peaches, blackberries, raspberries and tomatoes are available now, and the next few weeks start the rush towards apples and pumpkins.  Go fill your bags, and keep room for lunch out in Woodbine.  In July, I recommended a fried chicken picnic with the main dish from Harvest Fried Chicken. Yesterday, we stayed out of the heat by eating a late barbecue lunch at the Town Grill in the Citgo station.

After so much time picking produce, I didn't want to just pick one of Town Grill's barbecue options of pork, chicken, brisket, pitbeef, etc.  So I ordered sliders -- three small, soft buns that came with a half-cup dollop of meat.

Yesterday, we went for peaches and tomatoes with a plan to lay them away for winter.  I even bought some Balls quart canning jars as part of my bumbling effort to learn to pickle and can.
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Larriland Farms: Focus On Apples & Pumpkins, Then Run That Straw Maze With A BBQ Sandwich

Pick your own spinach!!  It's pick-your-own spinach season!!  And broccoli.  It wasn't ripe this weekend, but it's coming soon.  Cauliflower too!

Nothing beats pick-your-own caulifower except . . . . well, except for apples, pumpkins and the best food from an amusement park.

Larriland Farm has moved into fall, and the weekends are there to squeeze the best times of our this season.    Rows of apples -- 17 varieties over all -- to load up on sweetness and bake yourself a pie.  Fields of pumpkins.  (Sorry, we took the perfect four on Sunday afternoon.)  And great food.

Larriland has gone two ways for weekend food this October, and it's absolutely worth the drive our I-70.  First, eat a real meal from the folks at Towne Grill in Lisbon.  They have a stand selling burgers, hot dogs and my favorite, the pulled pork and chicken.  They also had smoked turkey legs, which were absolutely hilarious to watch little children eat.  Picnic with some sandwiches and fries.

Then, get some treats at the fritters and cider stand.  Apple fritters -- being peeled, chopped and fried right in front of you.  Hot cider mulled with honey and spices.  It's all reasonably priced.  It's all fun to eat.  You can buy all kinds of vegetables in the barn store, but you should treat yourself to barbecue and some apple fritters before winter sets in.

All that food comes on top of the pick-you-own produce.  The spinach, broccoli, etc. are healthy, but the apples and the pumpkins are easy ways to celebrate the season.  They're selling a dozen varieties of gourds and pumpkins at the store.  Weird enough varieties -- warts on a pumpkin! thin gourds that look like a snake! -- that people were photographing themselves with them.  But you can hunt your own big pumpkin out in the fields.  We pulled four beautiful ones ourselves.

And the best part of Larriland is free -- photos, photos, photos.  You on a ladder in the apple trees.  Kids running around the straw maze.  Everyone walking around the pumpkin fields.  I don't know why pumpkins make great pictures, but they're hilarious.  Click here for all of the posts about Larriland.

(Update: Tanya, who blogs at From Cleveland To Charm City, was at Larriland as well on Sunday.  I recognized her from her blog, but it was a step too geeky to interrupt her group of friends and say "Hey, we're bloggers!)

Canned Peaches At Larriland Farm

The next two months are perfect for Larriland Farms -- pick apples from the trees, select a pumpkin from the field, and enjoy the last outdoor weekends of the year.

Definitely check out the farm store that Larriland has expanded over the past two years.  (If nothing else, buy the dried fruit candy at the checkout.)  Keep your eyes out for canned peaches.  Larriland had them at the end of the summer.  They're peaches grown on the farm, then canned locally.  Four dollars is expensive for fruit, but I bet that they're delicious -- and that I'll cherish them in mid-winter when they'll be the taste of summer in a can.

Larriland Farms in Woodbine is an easy 30-minute drive from almost anywhere in Howard County.  From the southern county, take Rte 32 to I-70 West.  From Columbia or north, take Rte 29 to I-70 West.  Larriland has hit the perfect tone where it's family-run and friendly, but professionally operated so that everything runs well.  Click here for all the Larriland posts.

If you go to Larriland, consider a barbecue meal before or after at Town Grille in Lisbon.  It's great BBQ even though it is inside a gas station.

Larriland Farm 2010: Pick Your Own Peaches And Blackberries, Then Get Ready For Pumpkin Season

Larriland Farm in perfect.  I said that two years ago, and the pick-your-own farm in Woodbine has only gotten better as they expand and improve.

August to October are the feast months at Larriland.  We went for blackberries and peaches on Saturday, and our boxes were overflowing as we rolled home.  Overflowed as in 40 pounds of peaches.  Smaller boxes for the blackberries, but you can't get heaps of ripe blackberries like this anywhere.

Heaps that Mrs. HowChow has turned into blackberry sorbet and used for a blackberry-peach pie.  That was the second pie.  Even discounting the slices that we shared with friends, we have split more than a pie between us since Sunday.

The farm is about 30 minutes from the more-crowded part of Howard County.  You can stop for a barbecue lunch before or after at Town Grill in Lisbon.  Although you pick in the fields, check out Larriland's expanded store at the main parking lot.  Get the dried fruit candy.  Try one of the McCutcheon's brand sodas like birch beer.  Or pick up some of the vegetables and fruit that you didn't pick yourself.

Last weekend, they were talking about several more weeks of peach picking, and the blackberries were still pretty thick.  We also paid $7.50 for a large plastic cup, and Mrs. HowChow created a bouquet from the cutting garden.  She actually created three bouquets from all the flowers that fit in her cup.  You can also pick plums, potatoes, leeks, and tomatoes.  Soon there will be apples, then pumpkins in October.

Take my advice about blackberries:  You can't pick them based on sight.  You have to pull gently on the blackest berries and only take the ones that pop off.  Some super-black berries are still tart.  If you have to pull the berry off the bush, then it's tart.  Just move on.  Get the ones that you can almost brush into your tray.

Larriland Farm

2415 Woodbine Road

Woodbine, MD 21797

410-442-2605

NEAR: This is off I-70 west of Rte 32. Take I-70 West to Exit 73. Turn left at the end of the exit ramp. Then follow that road through a circle and then along a road of farms and new developments. Larriland is on the left, although there are some fields across the road.

Larriland Update: Swing Seasons

Larriland Farm is kicking off two seasons of pick-your-own fun right now -- the peaches and blackberries are still producing and the first apples (Galas!) are available by the bag.

Sunday's beautiful weather convinced us to cancel our plans on a whim and head up to Woodbine off I-70. Twenty pounds of peaches is always a pleasure, but we were actually glad that we hadn't bothered our friends Magda and Holly, who had said they wanted to join our next trip. Picking on Sunday afternoon was scarce. Truly ripe blackberries were almost impossible to find. And the trees that dripped with ripe peaches a month ago had definitely been searched by many hands over the weekend.

Despite the work, Mrs. HowChow pulled 20 pounds of peaches in maybe a half hour. All glowing yellow and a few ready to eat in the car. Larriland also had fields open to pick tomatoes, apples, leeks and flowers. Even on a day of slim pickings, Larriland is a beautiful place -- the smell of peaches and the warmth of the sun. It is also beautifully run with people working in the all the fields and the barn full of produce, canning supplies, loaves from Ellicott City's Breadery, and those dried fruit candy. I'm already thinking about an October weekend when we can go for apples and pumpkins.

One new arrival is root beer and sarsaparilla from the McCutcheon's brand. The Frederick company has sold jellies and other items for decades, but I had never seen the soda before. Sarsaparilla was great fun. We both remembered birch beer that we drank decades ago.

Parting advice: Think twice about the blackberries for sale in the barn. They look beautiful, and they're a bargain compared to grocery store blackberries. But they're picked tart. I don't pick a blackberry if it resists at all. That is how you get sweet, plump berries. Dark, firm berries aren't sweet, and those tart berries dominated the pint that we bought. Still good for a blackberry & peach pie.

Peaches and Blackberries at Larriland Farm

Summer is falling off the trees at Larriland Farm -- peaches that smell delicious in the orchard and taste even better if you pair them with blackberries.

Take my advice: You only want blackberries that pull off with two fingers. If you need any pressure, leave the berry on the bush. Last weekend, the blackberry bushes and the peach trees were so heavy with fruit that you didn't need to take anything but the perfect fruit.

Mrs. HowChow turned out a peach and blackberry pie on Sunday night. I made a savory peach gazpacho on Monday from Mark Bittman's new book. We cut down from our 2008 purchases because I carried the box through the rows. (Last year, we got a wagon, and there was nothing to stop us as we went from tree to tree. We had 40 pounds of peaches in 20 minutes.) They're nothing like supermarket fruit. They ripen -- all in a few days -- into sugary orbs that burst with juice. Don't worry, we left weeks of fruit -- green peaches and red blackberries -- for you to pick for yourself.

Larriland is a real treasure off I-70 just west of Rte 32 in Woodbine. Right now, you can pick beets, potatoes and the end of the blueberries. Soon, you'll have tomatoes. Then comes fall with apples and the best pumpkin fields where you can harvest your own jack-o-lantern. The new barn store carries more already-picked vegetables than they had in previous years. I got beautiful baby eggplants and squash that we grilled up with some burgers (along with the dried fruit candies).

Larriland Farm

2415 Woodbine Road
Woodbine, MD 21797
410-442-2605

NEAR: This is off I-70 west of Rte 32. Take I-70 West to Exit 73. Turn left at the end of the exit ramp. Then follow that road through a circle and then along a road of farms and new developments. Larriland is on the left, although there are some fields across the road.

\Frank's Nursey & Produce in Elkridge

Nothing beats apples and pumpkins on a crisp fall day, and Frank's Nursery & Produce offers an impressive array of both close to home.

Frank's joins Larriland Farm as the best places for pumpkins in Howard County. Of course, Larriland is across the county off I-70 in Woodbine. So it's still a priceless place to pick your own apples, send kids through the maze, take a hay ride, shop in the store, etc. But that doesn't work if you just have 20 minutes between errands in Columbia.

In its small covered area, Frank's offers maybe 10 different apples varieties, many of which you aren't going to find in a supermarket. Mrs. HowChow and I are in love with honeycrisp apples, and Frank's let us grab a bagful on the way out of Lowes. Frank's also has spectacular pumpkins. They're lined up near the parking lot, and they're especially great jack-o-lantern candidates -- many with long, twisting stems that give them character. Tall ones. Round ones. Fat ones. All kinds of sizes. That is why this is the best pumpkins in Howard County.

Two large pumpkins ran $22, and the Mrs. picked up an array of other pumpkins (tiny, small and medium), gourds and mums to decorate the house. The mums are already-blooming not just budded, but they're color at cut-rate prices -- $8 for a mum similar to ones that we saw for $25 at Home Depot.

The Frank's store has some nice produce, although I never know whether it is local or somehow different from what you can buy elsewhere. In the spring, Frank's grows annuals and some perennials in its greenhouses, and they're a beautiful experience to stroll through thousands of flowers after the winter cold. Again, they're a bargain. Great prices if you want a large display for your yard.

Click here for all the posts about Larriland. If you go to Frank's, you are just around the corner from casual kabobs and Persian food at Parsa Kabob.

FYI -- This isn't Frank's Seafood in Jessup. I don't know if they're connected.

Frank's Produce

6686 Old Waterloo Rd

Elkridge, MD 21075

(410) 799-4566

Near: This is actually near the shopping center with Lowe's and Trader Joe's at Rte 108 and Rte 175. From Rte 175, turn onto Rte 108 and then turn right at the second light onto Lark Brown Road. The Trader Joe's will be on your right. Follow that under it deadends, then turn right on Old Waterloo Road. Frank's is a few hundred feet up on the right.

Delicious: Dried Fruit Candy at Larriland

Don't think that Larriland Farms is all healthy. You go to pick your own fruits and vegetables, but the store in the Larriland barn has an even-sweeter side.

If you go out for apples or pumpkins this fall, check out the dried fruit candy at the checkout. They're coconut-coated sticks that come in six flavors. The sign says they're made of dried fruit. They're slightly chewy and taste like real fruit, maybe made from pulverized fruit and sugar? Lemon is our top choice. Mrs. HowChow says she would never have thought to eat one, but I sample my way through the strange items whenever I can. Now, she is the one who gets a bag and picks them out for herself.

Also look on the checkout counter for honey sticks. You cut off one end and squeeze the flavored honey into your mouth. Delicious.

Larriland Farm

2415 Woodbine Road
Woodbine, MD 21797
410-442-2605

NEAR: This is off I-70 west of Rte 32. Take I-70 West to Exit 73. Turn left at the end of the exit ramp. Then follow that road through a circle and then along a road of farms and new developments. Larriland is on the left, although there are some fields across the road.