84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 18, 2001 Fresh Com Draws Crowds To Produce Stand LINDA WILLIAMS Bedford Co. Correspondent BEDFORD (Bedford Co.) When the Reiff Produce stand opens at 10 a.m., there are al ready cars full of hungry custom ers, mouths watering, waiting for the fresh sweet com. The busy route 220 highway is a great location and a nice diver sion from the hectic schedules of passersby. Sweet scents of fresh fruit or the more earthy smell of new potatoes get the taste buds stirring. One look at the just picked com and customers are ready for the butter and salt. “I feel sorry for all those peo ple who don’t know what good com really tastes like,” said Ann Reiff, who along with her hus band, Norman, owns and oper ates ReifPs Produce and Green houses in New Enterprise. “There are a lot of people who don’t realize you have to eat com within a few hours of being pick ed if you want the best flavor.” The Reiffs have about 25 acres of their Morrison’s Cove farm in produce. “We raise strawberries, squash, tomatoes, beets, beans, onions, potatoes, canaloupe, pep pers, and of course, com,” Ann said. “Strawberries and com are our biggest sellers.” They also buy fruit from other growers to sell at their stands. Ann and her daughters raise bedding plants and create beauti ful hanging baskets and other container arrangements to add color and variety to the two pro duce stands. One is located near their New Enterprise farm and the other near the turnpike inter change in Bedford. During the summer, they sell cut flowers. “The only complaint we have had about our flowers is several of our hanging baskets were sto len from front porches of custom ers. I’m really sorry to think that anyone would stoop to stealing flowers,” she said. They have a green house for the bedding plants and for hot Located along Business Route 220 on the way to the turnpike, Reiffs is a roadside attraction. lot iln Ilit s I ook I in r illlllii \niu/iK \ ((nh i in this si i non i >/ / inn iisu I hnniiin. The greatest gift you can give is commitment to a child. • Excellent Training • support • Reimbursement FAMILIES UNITED NETWORK CALL 1-800-722-0136 house tomatoes, which they sell until the field tomatoes are ripe for picking. Once the Reiffs discovered the demand for fresh sweet com, Norman planted it every two weeks beginning in the early spring. This assures a good crop until Labor Day. “We use a sugary variety,” Ann explains, “and it has a won derful flavor. “We depend a lot on the weather and, this year, we have had a nice amount of rain and just hope we continue to have showers throughout August.” To prevent the first crop of young plants from freezing, the Reiffs keep them under clear plastic until wanner weather ar rives. “We actually create a com greenhouse,” Ann says. She said this her family’s first experience with retailing. “We started with the local produce auction and advanced into our own produce stands. It has been trial and error. We depend a lot on word of mouth. When some one gets good strawberries or nice flowers at a reasonable price or mouth-melting com, they like to tell their friends about it, and that is our main source of adver tisement.” The Reiffs also do some news paper advertising and have had refrigerator magnets created to keep their name before custom ers. “We open on weekends begin ning with Mother’s Day,” Ann said. After school is over and strawberries are ready, the stand is open full time. She said, “During com season, it takes our whole family to keep ahead of the work.” The Reiffs have two daughters and two sons who work on the farm. They hire extra help during the produce season. In addition to the produce the Reiff farm has 100 head of milk ing cows managed by the sons. “We have no trouble sleeping at night,” Ann said with a laugh. FARM-TOUGH SHOES Our most popular JSM|| men’s work shoe, Barnyard resistant leather fairly cyber grip Size 7-13, D-2E, 4E „ . , Size 7-13, D-2E $76.95 OUtSOle. $71.50 Add $6 Shipping Ipr., $1.50 ea. additional pr. I 1 J Name | ■ Address { I Shoe |l I State Zip Size || i i Progressive Shoe Store 19 N. Belmont Rd., Paradise, PA 17562 (717) 768-7866 Call or write for our free catalog Folks are ready to buy when the Reiff’s.open for business at 10 a.m. Snyder County Historical Society Conducts Tours, Lecture BEAVER SPRINGS (Snyder Co.) The Snyder County His torical Society continues its lec ture series on Sept. 2. The Histo ry and Art of Beekeeping presented by local beekeeper Ste ven March, will be conducted at 2 p.m. at the Snyder County His torical Society Building, 30 E. Market Street, Middleburg. March is the owner and opera tor of Moosewood Apiaries of Beaver Springs. March has been Home Canning Questions LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Penn State Cooperative Exten sion is the place to go for answers for food preservation questions. A home economist is available on Wednesdays from 9 a.m.-I p.m. to answer specific questions on home canning, freezing and drying. Pressure canner dial gauges may also be check for accuracy on Wednesdays at the Farm and Home Center. It is recommended that dial gauges be checked year ly. Call 394-6851 to schedule an appointment, only the lid is needed for testing. Pressure can ners with weighted gauges do not need to be tested. There is no charge for this service. a beekeeper for more than 20 years and is a member of the American Beekeeping Federa tion, the Pennsylvania State Bee keepers Association, and is a life time member of the Snyder County Historical Society. He specializes in the production of cut comb, chunk, and extracted honey; as well as beeswax and the removal of bees and honeybee swarms. The presentation will cover the history of beekeeping from ap proximately 9000 B.C. to the present. Beekeeping equipment and other beekeeping related items will be on display and Canning For Competition LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Have you ever wondered what makes the blue ribbon winners at the fair distinctive? Are you a judge for canned goods and need an update? Do you want to make your home canned gifts look special? Or, do you just like to know some of the secrets? Penn State Cooperative Exten sion is offering a workshop on Canning for Competition. This workshop is for the want-to-be winners and the pros alike. available for inspection. March will also demonstrate and discuss different beekeeping methods and techniques used throughout the world. The presentation will be an interactive event with audi ence participation and discus sion. Free weekly tours each Sunday continue at the society building from 1:30-5 p.m. now through the month of September. For more information about the pro grams at the society building, call (570) 837-6191 on Thursday or Friday from 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. when the library is open for his torical research. Information includes an up date on judging techniques and canning information. Coordina tors of canned goods at local fairs and fair judges will also find the newest information about judging canned goods at fairs. This workshop will be con ducted on Thursday, Aug. 23 from 10-11 a.m. at the Farm and Home Center. Preregistration is requested. Cost is $2, which covers demon stration materials and handouts. Call Penn State Extension at (717) 394-6851 for information.
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