Sweet Corn

IT'S HARD NOT to notice the endless, neat rows of vegetables lining the outskirts of the Knill farm. During my countless trips commuting on Route 27, I've been watching the growth of vegetable plants through the spring and early summer months, anticipating the arrival of fresh local produce.Only a month or two ago, I noticed the garden showing signs of life, little sprouts pushing through the soil. It seems in no time, many of the plants have reached their full height and are starting to produce a bounty of vegetables.

With summer coming to an end, we asked 11 local wine connoisseurs to weigh in with a recommendation for the perfect wine to toast the end of one season and the beginning of another. So before you fire up your grills for that last summer cookout, check out our list for a fitting companion. A 1997 or 1998 Chardonnay from the Cambria Katherine vineyard in Santa Maria, Calif. Picked by: Fred Knezevich, "keeper of the wines" at Helen's Garden and Cafe, 2908 O'Donnell St. Price: $19.99 "It's got great texture.

Sweet corn is great, but it can't hold a candle to the beautiful ornamental corn of fall. Marbled crimson and cream, slate blue, Burgundy, butter yellow swirled with russet, purple, blood red and more, ornamental corn is like a Fauvist painting on a cob. While today we use it primarily for decoration, ornamental corn, also known as Indian corn or field corn, is one of the "three sisters" (corn, beans and squash) that have been Native American diet staples for millenniums. Massasoit brought deerskin bags of popped corn to the first Thanksgiving.

In his current life as an Ellicott City farmer -- dependent upon fate -- former state Senate President James Clark Jr. prays for rain. Not much, just the inch per week the crops on his 548-acre spread demand."

If you haven't been to the Owl Bar recently, you may be surprised by the changes. Italian is out, American regional is in -- from Maryland to the Southwest.The menu at the popular pub was revamped when Morou Ouattara took over as executive chef last May. Though Ouattara is from Africa's Ivory Coast, his cooking style owes more to the five years he spent at Red Sage, Mark Miller's noted Southwestern restaurant in Washington.We enjoyed Ouattara's Southwestern dishes at the Owl Bar. One reason was the absence of cumin, which overwhelms much of Tex-Mex and Southwestern cuisine these days.

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.

Poor Richard'sWhere: 4 1/2 E. Pennsylvania Ave.Hours: Dining room, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m.-9 p.m. SundayCredit cards accepted: AE, MC, VFeatures: Bar food, steamed crabsNon-smoking section? YesCall: (410) 337-7110Prices: Entrees, $8.95-$16.95** 1/2Poor Richard's menu is a wonder to behold. It lists 48 specialty sandwiches, plus the usual tuna fish and roast beef. It's impressive, but I'm not sure it's impressive enough to steal.

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.

Hay and corn crops suffering under cold, wet weather The cornstalks in the soggy fields at Richard Holloway's farm just outside Darlington stand 3 to 4 inches tall. They should be twice that tall, said the Harford County grower who farms 900 acres. He blames the small plants on too much of a good thing - too much rain to give the corn the warm sunshine needed for healthy growth. It's not just his corn that is being affected by one of the wettest springs on record. "The thing that is hurting us the most is the hay crop," he said.

Corn on the cob rates as one of life's perfect creations. Golden and beautiful, it's a model of nature's symmetry.Corn fanatic and cookbook author Betty Fussell calls it downright sexy."