82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 24, 1908 The 34th National Apple Harvest Festival held in the heart of apple country offered something for everybody during the first two weekends in October. Apple Ideas Abound At Festival GINNY WILT Adams Co. Correspondent ARENDTSVILLE (Adams Co) Walking through the National Apple Harvest Festival smelling Ps wonderfully pun gent odors of cooking apples and spices in an assortment of dish es triggers a desire for food. It is apparent that you are not alone, because everywhere you look people sit at tables or walk the midway eating prod ucts from the many vendors on hand to pay homage to the apple, Adams County’s top crop. At Pippins Apple Stew stand, sponsored by Preferred Catering Gooseberry Farm Specializes In Herbs LINDA WILLIAMS Bedford Co. Correspondent BEDFORD (Bedford Co.) As a little girl, Joan Howsare of Bedford remembers following her grandmother as she planted and weeded her lush flower gar dens “Grandma would just get in there and tackle those weeds,” Joan recalls fondly. “I guess the love of plants just got into my blood ” Joan is an owner of the attractive Gooseberry Farms located along Wareham Road, just off Route 30. Gooseberry specializes in herbs, both culinary and decora tive. The “Gooseberry” name came to Joan when she was trying to think of something “attention getting ” “Of course, I had to plant some gooseberry bushes to go along with the name,” she ..plains ” The gooseberries make a particularly good jelly.” As an avid gardener, Joan’s interest in herbs began years prior to starting her own busi ness “I found I was always driving to Gettysburg or some other dis tant place to find herb plants,” she says. “I thought if I was doing that, others must be doing the same thing.” Gooseberry Farms encompas es live and dried plants. Surplus items are sold at the Fall Foliage Festival held the first two weekends in October in Bedford The festival continues to bring business long after the Services of Gettysburg, the four owners who also work at Gettysburg College, busily pre pare a pot of Cider Beef Stew. While the catering service has had a stand at the festival in the past, it never before served the unique beef stew. Chris Rinehart, along with his partners, Ed Earp, Jason Stoots, and Dean Anthony, said he found the recipe for the stew “in an old country cookbook.” The four men have 50 years of combine food service experi ence and are certified chefs with training from Hotel Hershey and Gettysburg College. last leaves of autumn have fall en. “People pick up my card at the festival and contact me year round,” points out Joan. During the spring of 1998, Gooseberry was a part of a mys tery bus tour from Altoona which also brought in cus tomers. Work for the herb garden begins while the cold winds if winter are still howling. Seeds are planted and begun under grow lights. “The first couple of years, I had plants everywhere,” she remembers. “But, I’m more organized now and have gotten my system under control.” She adds that “grow lights” are the secret to successfully growing plants from seeds. When the seedling plants are big enough, they are transferred to the greenhouse which is a part of Gooseberry. All of the herbs are grown naturally with no pesticides or chemical fertilizers. “If the deer or rabbits want to eat some of them, I just let them have their share,” Joan says. The heavy scents of the herbs deter the wild animals during the summer months. However, in the winter, they will nibble the plants down to the ground. “It saves me a lot of cutting and is good for the plants,” laughs Joan. The shop at Gooseberry is an old summer kitchen which was moved from its original location behind the farm house to its pre sent spot on the sunny lawn. Culinary herbs include basil, thyme, oregano, savory, bay In their new festival offering some modern-day touches such as A-l Sauce were added to the recipe, Rinehart said. While the recipe is a secret, he did say that “you use cider instead of beef stock, and green beans instead of peas to make a sweet and tangy stew. People ask a lot of questions about it.” Sirloin cubes are also used. leaves, French tarragon, rose mary, parsley and marjoram. Decorative herbs which come in a wide array of vivid and pas tel colors are, lavendar, german der, hyssop, statice, and borage. Borage can be eaten and is quite tasty when candied but also jazzes up a summer party when frozen in ice cubes. Joan grows an array of orna mental grasses and such inter esting herbs as tansy and lamb’s ear. Gooseberry usually opens in May and closes in the middle of August. This year, due to the dry weather, Joan decided to close earlier. Shop hours when open are 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday. At other times, Joan can be contacted via an answering machine at the shop. Or, you might just find her there on off hours, transplanting plants or digging in the dirt. It’s where she is the happiest. .-.mazing ways to use ap). .cooking were aval _<r tasting during the National Apple Harvest Festival. Stew made with cider instead of beef broth, apple pizza, and apple sausage were a few of the novel apple dishes. Samples were available at the stand and Rinehart added, “People who try it, like it.” Sitting on the scooter he uses because multiple sclerosis has UME Joan working at her Fall Foliage Stand in Bedford. Gooseberry taken its toll, Don Hershey of Mount Joy, Lancaster County, teases about his popular cre ation Apple Sausage. is an attractive spot during the summer. 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