Reasons to Visit Washington County

There are many, especially during harvest season. And chief among them are Gardenworks and Sheldon Farms, both in Salem, N.Y.

Each business has behind it an enterprising and creative woman fueling its progress.

Sheldon Farms has made a name for itself for its signature blue potatoes, corn, tomatoes, homemade pies and other delights that crowd the small retail space at the edge of a stretch of potato fields on Route 22. But Pat Sheldon takes it all a step further, rounding out the inventory with savory imports like Haloumi cheese from Greece and aromatic butter from Parma, Italy. It's also the only place I know of where you can get Coca-Cola in glass bottles, with an old-school formula that uses sugar instead of corn syrup. Oh, and Pat LOVES to entertain...witness the recent Slow Food Convivium:



Post-Star Features Editor and Food Blogger Doug Gruse talks with Pat




Artist and Travel Writer Serena Kovalosky and Doc Sconzo, mover and shaker of Saratoga Slow Food.

And of course....









...Food made with local ingredients, and Love.



Al and Pat Sheldon...who don't get a moment's rest until the first snowflake of the season falls.

www.sheldonfarmsny.com .



And then there's Gardenworks, the retail store/berry patch on Route 30 in Salem that Meg Southerland reincarnated from a dairy farm that had been in the family for three generations.

Southerland and her husband, Joe, started out selling local crafts and art, as well as Meg's signature dried floral arrangements and wreaths, made from flowers grown in her fields. Today, it's grown into a mini-grocery store that brims with local meats, cheeses, eggs, and condiments.

And the raspberries are IN:










...two and a half hours in the fields yielded 8 pounds of berries, and a slight tan.





Meg and Joe Southerland, at the end of another productive day.

www.gardenworksfarm.com .