LO C A L F L AVO R
fresh
FINDING FRUITS, VEGETABLES FROM AREA GROWERS written by ROXANN MILLER
June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, and local growers like Page Houser are gearing up for a busy season. This is the 40th year that Houser’s Produce Farm in Sharpsburg has been in operation. What started as a backyard hobby on an acre and a half of land has blossomed into more than 300 acres devoted to vegetables. “I always wanted to farm. I grew up dairy farming, but that wasn’t really an option at the time. Small dairy farming was on its way out when I was getting started,” Houser said. “This was something we could start small and pay our bills. We’ve always tried to grow the freshest, best-quality produce – and things just grew from there.” He attributes his success to a lot of long hours and hard work. Houser, the president of Houser’s Produce Farm, runs the operation with the help of his children and up to 40 summertime workers. “We won’t open until the sweet corn is ready – around the first week of July,” he said. He’ll stay open six days a week from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Oct. 31. White corn is the only kind the farm grows. “We basically have unlimited sales for the white corn that we grow, so we aren’t interested in growing any other kind. We usually pick between 30,000 and 50,000 ears every morning,” said Houser, who supplies produce to grocery stores in Frostburg, Md., Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia.
He said his goal is selling the freshest produce to his customers – whether they’re grocery stores or individuals who stop by his market. “We are strictly growing our products to sell really fresh. We’re focused on harvesting our crop to get it harvested and sold,” he said. It’s best to eat sweet corn right after buying it, Houser said, adding that it’s highly perishable. “Sweet corn rapidly converts from sugar to starch. The fresher it is, the better it’s going to taste,” he said. Some people store it for several days in the refrigerator and are happy with it, though. “We pick a lot of corn every day, and our goal is to sell today’s corn today,” he said, recommending that buyers keep the husk on until they’re ready to cook it. Houser said what sets his farm apart is growing a limited product line. “We’re a little different than a lot of your roadside markets. We’re primarily a grower. Some of your fruit stands are trying to handle a hundred different products, while we’re focused on the eight or nine we grow,” he said. In addition to sweet corn, Houser grows green zucchini, yellow zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, green bell peppers, eggplant, cantaloupes, sugar baby watermelons and seedless watermelons. The biggest customer demands in the summer are corn, cantaloupe and watermelon, he said. “Produce has a very short shelf life. If it’s coming from California to Hagerstown, it’s going to take a minimum of three days, and quite often, it’s a lot longer than that to get
