Produce Stand

Tyrone Johnson's place could have dropped from a Hansel & Gretel illustration, a jumbled fairy book structure of white stucco, apple green trim and a smoking chimney.Little pots of violets wave on the porch of this roadside stand on Dorsey Road, next to wilted red geraniums, two wishing wells, and a clumsily made jack-o'-lantern.A child carved that pumpkin, you think at first glance. In fact, the whole scene looks as if someone young and slightly disorganized drew up the plans -- and had a good time doing it. Wild roses droop over crates, victims of the chilly weather.

Harbin Farms employees recently began stacking large pumpkins on display, in addition to their second most popular seasonal items — mums and a wide variety of apples. Kimberly Taylor, who runs the produce stand with her husband, Michael, and her uncle, had worried that a year and a half dispute over zoning might have prevented the fall display from going up. The stand has been at Route 99 and Old Mill Road in Ellicott City since 1958, when it was part of a larger family farm.

EASTON -- Beginning about mid-May, when strawberries and asparagus are in season, until deep into October, when pumpkins are ripe on the vine, Audrey Callahan spends nearly every day at westbound U.S. 50 and Plugge (pronounced "ploo-gy") Road in Talbot County.One of dozens of produce sellers with roadside stands every summer along Eastern Shore highways, Mrs. Callahan suffers the hot sun, afternoon thunderstorms and humidity thick enough to slice. From sun-up until sundown, she lives outdoors, putting in nearly 110 hours a week running the family business.

A man selling produce at a Westminster roadside stand was robbed at gunpoint Saturday afternoon, according to Carroll County Sheriff's Deputies. The employee with Kern's Produce had been selling produce from the back of his pick-up truck and was seated in the cab taking a break between customers when a man with a gun walked up to the passenger side of the vehicle parked in the 400 block of E. Main Street, deputies said. The man pressed a dark colored handgun against the man's neck while demanding money at about 1:20 p.m., deputies said.

A FELLOW named Mark Harbold keeps a couple of pigs on his property on Falls Road near the Brooklandville fire station. A whole bunch of people, including several Ruxtonians, got a look at these pigs Saturday afternoon after the animals apparently caught the smell of fresh cantaloupe, busted out of their pen and went on a sortie to Debbie and Butch Snyder's long-standing produce stand on Ruxton Road. Pigs being pigs, they refused to wait in line for service and caused a scene. They caused a Baltimore County cop to earn his pay as a field training officer, too. "They ran through the zucchini and squash, and ate some tomatoes," says Joe Hoffman, the teen-ager on duty for the Snyders when the swine arrived for their midafternoon snack.

NOW THAT school is officially out for the summer, teen-agers are following the time-honored tradition of looking for gainful employment. Many are scooping ice cream, serving pizzas or ringing up sales at the mall. Then, there are the young entrepreneurs, trying to make a few bucks by walking dogs, mowing lawns or selling fresh-squeezed lemonade. One such teen-age businessman is Dan Livingston, 17, a student at Mount Hebron High School, who is opening a produce stand where he'll sell cucumbers, corn, tomatoes and blackberries that he is growing without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

Joan R. McMahon, owner and operator of a Green Spring Valley produce stand, died Thursday of cancer at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. The Pocomoke resident, who had formerly lived in Bare Hills, was 63. Born Joan Roberta Teague, she was raised in Hampden. She attended Baltimore public schools. From 1974 until this week, she operated Joan's Produce at Hillside Road and Greenspring Avenue, where she sold only Harford County-grown produce, family members said. Her daughter, Lorrie Lee Jachelski, a registered nurse who lives in Whiteford, said her mother received the cancer diagnosis only last week.

How does a roadside produce stand get its name? That is a question I often ask myself as I ride through the Eastern Shore on U.S. 50. This bit of mental amusement is no substitute for the enjoyment that comes from stopping at a stand and feasting on ripe plums, watermelon, cantaloupes or tomatoes. But it gets me down the road.For years I have guessed at origins of various names. Recently I checked up on my guesswork by interviewing some stand owners. I had figured, for instance, that the Toadvine Farms stand, west of Salisbury on Route 50 just past Naylor Mill Road, got its name from the family that ran it. But then cynicism seeped in and I wondered if produce stands, like so many other parts of American life, had been taken over by large corporations that had purchased the rights to the family name.

A Mass of Christian burial for Sam Famularo, a retired produce stand owner, will be offered at 10 a.m. today at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, 9533 Liberty Road in Randallstown.Mr. Famularo, who was 85 and lived on Polar Avenue in Lansdowne, died Saturday of heart failure at St. Agnes Hospital.He retired 15 years ago after operating a produce stand that bore his name for 40 years, first at the Lafayette Market, then at the Lexington Market.A native of Cefalu, Sicily, he came to Baltimore as a youth.

Sam Famularo, a retired produce stand owner, died Saturday of heart failure at St. Agnes Hospital. He was 85 and lived on Polar Avenue in Lansdowne.A mass of Christian burial for Mr. Famularo was being offered today at Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, 9533 Liberty Road in Randallstown.He retired 15 years ago after operating a produce stand that bore his name for 40 years, first at Lafayette Market, then at Lexington Market.A native of Cefalu, Sicily, he came to Baltimore as a youth.Mr. Famularo liked gardening and was an expert on raising fig trees.

Joan R. McMahon, owner and operator of a Green Spring Valley produce stand, died Thursday of cancer at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. The Pocomoke resident, who had formerly lived in Bare Hills, was 63. Born Joan Roberta Teague, she was raised in Hampden. She attended Baltimore public schools. From 1974 until this week, she operated Joan's Produce at Hillside Road and Greenspring Avenue, where she sold only Harford County-grown produce, family members said. Her daughter, Lorrie Lee Jachelski, a registered nurse who lives in Whiteford, said her mother received the cancer diagnosis only last week.

;(lines=ql);(dclead=((bodlead)*(clines)) +(2*(bodlead)));(adjcl=dclead);(clines=( A-1));(bodadj=(bodpt)*25);(bodadj=bodadj /32);(psize=((bodlead)*(clines))+(bodadj ));(psize=psize*32);(dcptsize=psize/22); (adj=dcptsize/33);cf21,(dcptsize),(dclead);ec8,Q,capQ;ec7,1,cap2Frank J. Guerassio Sr., a longtime produce manager, died of cancer complications Wednesday at St. Joseph Medical Center. The Dundalk resident was 82. He was an assistant store manager for produce for Eddie's supermarkets, a local chain, beginning in the late 1940s.

The Ellicott City produce stand is flanked by a rustic barn and hand-painted signs, and shadowed by tall trees. Many Howard County residents can recognize the stand, but few know the history behind it. "This stand has been in our blood for so long," says Kim Taylor, current owner of Harbin Farms produce stand. It all began when Kim's aunt, Sylvia Harbin, began selling homegrown tomatoes from her front yard in 1958. Sylvia's small business flourished, and in 1968, then-owner Bob Harbin moved the stand next door to the empty lot at Route 99 and Bethany Lane.

Bob Clark Produce stand operator Hereford Age --73 Salary --He averages $250 a week. Years on the job --Seven How he got started --Clark worked as a machine operator with Black & Decker for 37 years, then took care of animals on a farm for seven years. Baltimore County farmer Herman Kupisch asked him if he'd be interested in working a produce stand during the summer, so Clark decided to give it a try. Typical day --He opens the stand on Mount Carmel Road just west of Interstate 83 at 10 a.m. and stays until about 6 p.m., rain or shine.

John W. Selby, a former Queen Anne's County educator and professional baseball scout who was better known to resort-bound vacationers and local residents as the good-natured Farmer John, died of complications from a stroke Wednesday at University of Maryland Medical Center. He was 88 and lived in Centreville. For the past 50 summers, Mr. Selby had sold fresh Eastern Shore produce, first for 27 years from a roadside stand on Route 50 near Queenstown, and since 1982 along Route 8 near the Bay Bridge Airport in Stevensville.

The opening of area farmers' markets this season brings the arrival of growers loaded not only with bushels of fresh produce, but also knowledge to share with consumers who crave more than a sprig of fresh parsley or in-season tomatoes. This year, a number of markets, including the Baltimore Farmers' Market, the Pikesville Farmers' Market, Carroll County Farmers' Market and the Waverly Farmers' Market, will hold workshops and cooking demonstrations for children and adults to teach them how to use the herbs, fruit and vegetables being sold.

For a quarter-century, Doug Diehl's produce stand in Park Plaza has withstood the test of time and competition.But two freak accidents -- one last year -- nearly prevented the 48-year-old Severna Park resident from celebrating his 25th anniversary this month."

The Ellicott City produce stand is flanked by a rustic barn and hand-painted signs, and shadowed by tall trees. Many Howard County residents can recognize the stand, but few know the history behind it. "This stand has been in our blood for so long," says Kim Taylor, current owner of Harbin Farms produce stand. It all began when Kim's aunt, Sylvia Harbin, began selling homegrown tomatoes from her front yard in 1958. Sylvia's small business flourished, and in 1968, then-owner Bob Harbin moved the stand next door to the empty lot at Route 99 and Bethany Lane.

A FELLOW named Mark Harbold keeps a couple of pigs on his property on Falls Road near the Brooklandville fire station. A whole bunch of people, including several Ruxtonians, got a look at these pigs Saturday afternoon after the animals apparently caught the smell of fresh cantaloupe, busted out of their pen and went on a sortie to Debbie and Butch Snyder's long-standing produce stand on Ruxton Road. Pigs being pigs, they refused to wait in line for service and caused a scene. They caused a Baltimore County cop to earn his pay as a field training officer, too. "They ran through the zucchini and squash, and ate some tomatoes," says Joe Hoffman, the teen-ager on duty for the Snyders when the swine arrived for their midafternoon snack.

It's easy to get slightly rhapsodic about the North Fork of New York's Long Island and about the symphony of pleasures it offers the senses. Light does magical things here. It bounces off the waters of the quiet coves of the bay side of the fork, making mirrors of thousands of surfaces. It illuminates the curl of the breakers along Long Island Sound, which pound into the fork's north coast. And for more sunny days than practically any place in the state of New York, it makes the vegetables and the grapes grow.