Preserving Open Spaces

Wynnorr Farm Route 926, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania

I bought fresh silver queen corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans at one of my all time favorite farm stands in my old stomping grounds, Glen Mills, Pa. last week. This is a farm that I frequented for over 15 years. Thank goodness it is still there.

Once upon a time I lived on an old estate near by called Waterstock. It was once owned by the film star Claude Raines who appeared in the classic Humphrey Bogart movie Casa Blanca as the police captain and uttered one of my favorite lines at the end of the movie:"Quick, round up all of the usual suspects", as Humphrey Bogart was being whisked away to safety aboard an airplane. Morroccan justice at it's best.

When I lived at Waterstock, Hanna and Jack Leiper, an old Quaker couple owned the place. I have many fond memories from that time living in the country. There were some good parties there. We had a keg of Bass Ale on tap in the carriage house kegerator at all times. Very quaint.

So back to Wynnorr which was one of the places I bought local, family farm grown produce in Pennsylvania. Great, fresh food. The best silver queen, white corn, bicolor, and yellow corn-on-the- cob I have ever tasted. They keep the corn crop season going all summer by rotating different varieties.

One of the other farms in Glen Mills that I used to frequent was Fairhope Orchards down the road. Much to my chagrin I saw Fairhope Orchards is being subdivided into a housing development. Another old family farm of my youth bites the bulldozer's dust. It's a shame. It's 2008 and that's progress. It's always sad when I come back to the Philadelphia area and see another old Main Line estate subdivided and another farm paved over. It's usually caused by heirs inheriting the estate and having no interest in running a farm. It's easier to take a developer's money and cash out than run a family farm profitably. Whatever the reason, it's a shame.

I guess the good news is that Wynnorr Farm is going strong as the attached photos indicate. I think the family that owns it is committed to farming for the long pull. You never know.

So I digress into another one of my pet peeves, un-checked development. Support your local family farm any way you can so we can preserve these beautiful wide open spaces.

AHO

Richard

PS- I reserve the right to post meandering and sometimes irrelevant posts from time to time as I have this week on vacation......