Comus Market

10/31/2018

Happy Halloween to all of our friends and loyal customers!

This post comes a little late.

However, due to extreme weather conditions this year, we will not be open for the season

We apologize and hope to see you in the future.

11/22/2017

A hearwarming story from one of our longtime customers here at the market...

"Hi David,
This is Nathaniel. Nathaniel is 17 years old. His Mom and I started bringing him to your Squash/Pumpkin/Chicken heaven there in Comus 5 years ago. Living in the city he has never been around animals but likes seeing them on the TV or computer. He likes and is good at making many animal noises.
So... 5 years ago when we brought him to your market it was the first time he had seen a chicken in person. He was scared of them and would not get out of the car. His mother and I bought quite a bit of squash and pumpkin that year. Each of the last 3 years he has become more brave. The second year he managed to get out of the car and walk around back and watched from a safe 50 to 60 feet as long as one did not look his way, and when that happened he high tailed it to the car. The pictures attached are from what was our third venture to the market and as you can see he was getting quite brave. You were really busy this day and at one point you were near Nathaniel and you bent down to do something near him and he saw it as an invite to fluff your hair, which he loves to do to people. He is being taught to keep hands to self, mind you. Last year was our fourth visit and he was eager to follow chickens wherever they went.
Clearly your market has become a growth point for Nathaniel . Nathaniel has not made it to the market yet this fall but we know he hopes to.

FYI Nathaniel has a significant intellectual handicap. He has a genetic disorder called CFC, cardio facio cutaneous syndrome and is also on the autistic spectrum.

It was a pleasure talking with you on Monday.

Here's wishing you the best Thanksgiving.

Mark""

I hope this warmed your heart as much as it has mine.

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!

~Dvd

11/03/2017

Comus, MD. November 3rd.

There's plenty of color and photo ops in and around Sugarloaf and the Ag reserve... Come out and enjoy the seasonal treasures this weekend. Comus market will be open 10am - 5;30pm. Saturday and Sunday. Fresh cider, Staymen, Fuji apples and of course a variety of edible pumpkins & squash for your favorite fall recipes.

Enjoy the day, dvd.

10/31/2017

The cats at Comus Market invited a few local dogs to celebrate Halloween this year!

09/05/2017

Comus, MD. Sept. 4th. Labor Day Monday. The end of summer for many. Here there is still plenty of summer labor to harvest but the end to many of summer's treats show signs of the coming change in the seasons. I't a great holiday to enjoy the freshness of our bountiful landscape. Tomatoes , sweetcorn, melons, cukes and peppers. peaches, apples and pears
There's one seasonal gem that is missed by many and lost to many more. It's hey day long lost and heading to an end.. It is the Pear trees of old farms of the past. Farms with an assortment of outbuildings and barns all specific in size and shape for their unique purpose. Bank barns, corn crib barns, Free-stall and to***co barns. Smoke houses, Spring houses and chicken houses. In the 1960's and 70's many of these farms locally sat abandoned and over grown.The buildings just skeletons of their gloried past. In the over-grown shadows there were old fruit trees. The apple and peach trees dead or dying but there were always pear trees producing pears late August and September. Tho never a pretty grocery store pear these pear trees all seemed similar in their homeyness yet a bit unique to the bite. Most dropped fruit green,hard and tart. Some stored well and if wrapped in paper, put in the pantry they would be yellow, juicy and sweet for Thanksgiving. I suspect that like many of the old apple trees on farms these pears were mostly for cider.
The pear trees on our farm growing up were known by the barn or building they were closest to so we had smoke-house pears and bank barn pears.

The old farms these pear trees were planted had barns mostly built in the early 1900's to the 1930's so these trees are old. Most of the old barns and pear trees were lost when the farms sprouted houses. I have no knowledge or record of any out building near my tree here to help date it's age or give a name. I just refer to it as my garden pear.
My Garden pear has some big fruit this year. So I gathered a few up to honor it;s uniqueness.... The flesh is medium textured, a mix of tart and sweetness with plenty of pear flavor.
With the Theme being a Labor day cookout I thought to use it in a salad or other side dish. I came up with ...
Comus Market; Tomato / garden pear salsa!!

02/20/2017

Comus, MD. February 28th.

The mild weather this month has some of the flora and fauna thinking Spring. With temps in the low 70's here yesterday the honeybees went to work. This girl was returning to the hive from a successful foraging expedition.
You can see the yellowish ball of pollen she collect on her rear legs. This is pollen from nearby Swamp Maples. There are some low growing winter weeds such as Henbit also just staring to blossom.
This load of pollen is destined for the brood chamber to nourish the young larvae. Her hive mates have heated an area in the hive to a cozy 92 degrees. The warmth draws the queen in to start laying. From now on the bees have to keep the brood chamber 92 degrees no matter how cold it gets or lose their brood to "chilling".
If all goes well, The young bees start emerging and they go to work in the brood chamber to help increase the number of eggs the queen can lay. A healthy queen that can have the capacity to lay three thousand eggs a day!
By late march/april the honeybee population should be increasing exponentially. The larger the field force of foragers in May the better chance to harvest some extra honey!
I may be getting ahead of myself with such early talk of a honey harvest..But... as a beekeeper and farmer.. Sunny warm weather in February can fill one with thoughts of fancy.

Enjoy the sunny day! dvd.

11/17/2016

Market will be closed Monday Nov. 21.
Open noon to 5pm Tuesday - Friday and 10am-5pm Saturday & Sunday.

10/25/2016

10/18/2016

Market now open for Fall 2016.

Weekdays Noon - 5pm. Sat. & Sundays: 10am. - 6pm.
Trees on Sugerloaf Mountain changing daily in this heat so plan a trip out soon!
I'll post market hours for November at a later date. Thanks, dvd.

09/06/2016

Comus, MD. September 5th. Labor Day!
To celebrate here I use some fresh local produce that was the result of much labor. Some labor of mine and some labor form other growers. Labor Day is special for many reasons and all manor of labor.
For me as a grower the growing season is a labor of love. I would not be able to handle the mental energy required otherwise. The labor to plant and nurture a crop.Labor required with no guarantee's there will be a harvest. Will it be too hot, dry and my labor watches the crop shrivel. Will it rain too much and choke the plants. I'll still be laboring, for some reason weeds don't seem to choke.
The labor of harvest comes and I am thankful. No greater pleasure than holding a perfect fruit or vegetable in ones hand and know it exists as a result of your labor! A labor required with no guarantee's except one.
It requires a labor of love.

Fortunately, I also enjoy cooking and eating local which at times includes items hunted and gathered. Here's my locally grown Mid- Day meal this labor day. :
A warm potato and green bean salad with roasted garlic cloves and a fresh dill vinaigrette dressing. Fresh garden Roma tomatoes topped with hummus and sautéed Baby Bella mushrooms w/ fennel seed and maple syrup glaze.

Happy Labor day to all who labor to put food on the table and to all those who have sat at mine... Enjoy the day, dvd.

08/15/2016

Comus, MD. Aug. 13th.

Middle of August can be called the" Dog days of Summer." The weather is living up to the name with temps pushing the hundred mark and the humidity so high Heat indexes are predicted to go as high as One hundred fifteen.

Almost too hot for man or beast.

The heat of August brings forth the summer bounty of tomatoes and peaches*. Tomatoes firm and meaty with just enough acidify to gently pinch the tastebuds. Peaches with a soft fleshy sweet juiciness.
This morning the kitchen was already warmer than comfortable and just brewing the morning pot of coffee seemed to raise the temperature in the room. ... Too hot to cook!
So, I took a container of leftover noodles out of the fridge. Diced up a few tomatoes, an equal number of peaches. Chopped a couple green onions. Mixed in a bowl. The dressing consisted of equal parts caesar dressing, lime juice and red wine vinegar.

The ad-lib salad was amazingly refreshing. A little acidic punch from the tomatoes and lime juice along with the Sweetness and aroma from the fresh peaches. I belatedly added some black olives for a touch of saltiness to balance the two together. I think cucumbers would have added a nice crunch. I planted my cukes late so I'll have to wait another week and make another salad with them included.

It maybe too hot to cook but you can still enjoy this summers bounty!

** Note on peaches; This years peach crop was severely affected by a hard freeze this past March which destroyed over half of the crop. Our local growers need your support more than ever.

Visit a local farm stand. Eat fresh, Eat local. Make something simple yet creative!

07/12/2016

Hunter F. Staley's reunion w/ historic Boyds, MD. weather station

Comus, MD. July 9th 2016

We celebrated Hunter's 80th birthday here Saturday. When Hunter was born on July 9th 1936 Ralph Sr. and Nellie Staley lived and ran the Staley motel and boarding home A mile or so outside of downtown Boyds, MD. The property was located on Ten mile creek rd that wandered along a crisp clear creek of the same name. Ralph Sr. farmed some of the fertile meadow that ran between the road and creek. He also recorded the weather stats each day for the U.S. weather Bureau. The weather Bureau had stations across the U.S. in rural towns. Dairy farmers with the daily routine of milking cows on the same time table were perfect for recording the daily weather stats that require the same daily timing.

In 1962 Hunter took over the recording for the Weather Bureau from his father on the dairy farm Ralph Sr. had bought a couple miles west on Barnesville rd. Hunter and his younger brothers Donald and Earl had combined their labor and cows to farm more efficiently.

Hunter recorded the weather every day after the late afternoon milking. The weather box contained two officially calibrated thermometers. One read the high temperature for the 24hr. period. The other recorded the 24hr. low temperature and the current temp. at recording. The vented weather box sat on a metal stand with the base of the box 48 inches off the ground. A few feet away the rain gauge sat cradled in a metal stand of it's own at a similar height. With a 6' diameter catch pan that funneled rain water into a one and a half inch brass tube the rainfall was record in hundreds of an inch along with the time and length of the rain event including notes as to lightning, hail, sleet or snow.

My mother Lois married Hunter in 1969. A dream come true for me as a ten year old. I adored Hunter and when not in school followed him everywhere. Recording the weather with Hunter is one of my fondest memories. The sound of unlocking the high temp thermometer so it could be spun counter clockwise to reset to the current temperature. The low temp thermometer was turned up on end to reset. My favorite memory of all is Hunter giving me the honor of measuring the rain in the rain gauge. Hunter would hand me the measuring stick that was kept in the weather box, I would walk over and slide it down the tube like a dip stick. after the reading I was allowed to open the gauge pull out the brass tube to empty. Releasing the trapped rainfall from its official duty and back to the soil.

Hunter recorded the weather officially for the weather bureau until 1987 when the U.S. Weather Bureau closed the Boyd's station. They awarded Hunter for his good service with a 25 year pin and personal possession of the weather box and rain gauge.

The weather box was moved here to Comus, MD. in the early 1990's.

By 2016 the weather box was more than weathered. Grey with vent slats missing and the outer top missing. I refurbished the weather box and replaced the outer hardware.
>> The two photo's show Hunter and his weather box being reintroduced on his Birthday! Happy Birthday Hunter!! Love, dvd.