Miller Farms Market

It’s strawberry season in Virginia, and I can’t get enough. My home-for-the-summer son suggested we pick our own, so I hunted on the web for pick-your-own farms in our area, and found Miller Farms Market, a new one to me. The place had been a dairy farm for decades, and only started offering fresh produce a few years ago. This farm appealed to me because they are a small operation, convenient to home, and in a direction that doesn’t require me to drive through town. And they don't charge an admission fee, something you may find at bigger farms with lots of "attractions." So we went out on a weekday afternoon last week and quickly picked about 11 pounds of berries, despite having to pass up many ripe, but water-softened, berries. All this rain makes for a big berry, but it takes a lot of sunshine to make them really sweet, something that's been sorely lacking around here lately. Nonetheless, fresh picked local strawberries beat anything else you can find, and these were well worth the effort.

From Fredericksburg, go out Route 3 West and turn left on Route 621 (across from Wilderness Baptist Church). Go 5 miles to the farm on the right. It's just a few miles past Fawn Lake.



Besides strawberries, the farm offers freshly picked produce, seasonal plants, free range chickens and eggs, and a wide variety of other food items from the region.









In the little shop, you can get jams and jellies, peanuts, honey, maple syrup, coffee beans, and other food and gift items.



Don't forget the rabbit food.



A highlight was the strawberry "shake" we sampled, made from Miller's own milk and strawberries, that was more ice cream than shake (I dare you to suck that up through a straw).



For the most part, I prefer my berries just sliced and eaten, with a little sugar if necessary. I certainly don't advocate smushing freshly picked berries into drinks. But my son had a hankering to make his own strawberry lemonade, and I do support any and all efforts of my children to make me delicious treats, especially if they buy their own lemons, do their own squeezing, and clean up after themselves.

Mt. Olympus Farm

On Saturday, in search of a driving destination on a nice day, we settled on what was billed as the “Mt. Olympus Farm Earth Day Festival.” Now, we really weren’t expecting much in the way of a festival, but a drive in rural Caroline County seemed like a good bet. The farm is right off of Rt. 1, near Ruther Glen, and turned out to be very picturesque, with rolling hills and a sizeable lake.





Mt. Olympus Farm is similar to Miller Farms in Spotsylvania County. There are pick-your-own berries, plus a variety of veggies available in season. They also have two large greenhouses with annual and perennial plants for landscaping, herbs and vegetable plants for the garden. Plus, there’s a farm market with fresh produce, preserves, local dairy products, eggs and meats. The farm is family-friendly, with picnic tables and a small play area set up for the kiddies.

Strawberry plants for sale:



The earliest of the farm-grown berries:



The Earth Day Festival featured some local vendors, a few animals, face-painting for the kids, and food for sale. There was nothing particularly Earth Day-ish about the event. Next year, Cub Scouts, you might want to serve your Earth Day burgers in something other than styrofoam containers. And how about recycling bins for the cans and bottles? We sampled a few local treats, and brought home some excellent biscotti made by the Biscotti Fairy.

Biscotti Fairy goodies:



Mama minding her newborn lamb:



Alpacas...



and their wool:



Harbinger of things to come:



After strolling around the grounds a bit, we checked out the produce in the market. I was surprised to see so many vegetables displayed with the “Virginia Grown” sign. I’m not naive enough to think that tomatoes and cucumbers were harvested from Virginia fields in April. But I am trusting enough to believe that if the sign says “Virginia Grown,” then somewhere in the state, there’s a greenhouse turning out tomatoes and cukes. When I asked where the veggies came from, it turns out they were trucked up from Florida. When I suggested that the Virginia Grown signs were misleading, I was told that “those are just the signs we use” and that the farm-grown produce would be coming soon. A lovely farm, but they need to get their labeling right.