Adventures with Barb: Rockingham County and Liskey's sweet corn

 It was pouring rain in the Shenandoah Valley today but that didn't stop my friend Barb and me from heading north to Rockingham County for some Liskey's sweet corn straight out of the field. Their popular roadside stand is usually packed with vehicles as consumers from near and far stop to buy some of the freshest, just-out-of-the-field corn around.

 Today's fog and heavy rain made it a quiet adventure today since we were the only ones under the tent picking through a heaping mound of corn as we looked for big, just-right ears. Together we bought five dozen -- some for friends, some for family, some for freezing, some for eating.

By 10:30 some of the ears I had purchased were shucked and boiling on my stove. We had corn for lunch and corn for dinner. Yum.

As we drove back through the rain and fog to Augusta with our prized ears, I told Barb about a growing-up memory when I was a little girl in Chesterfield County. My mom and aunt would buy dozens of ears of corn on the cob, parboil it, and slice it off the cobs into freezer bags for good winter eating. My sister and I would sit eagerly at the table waiting for leftover cobs that had just enough of the good kernels left for nibbling. That was some gooood eating. Barb has done her share of putting up corn in the freezer, too.

Memories and summertime corn. It was all good today.

The Liskeys have been growing and selling corn for 29 years. Mrs. Liskey said they will be there for another 10 days or so and then that will be it for this year. With Labor Day cookouts this weekend, you may want to get some for the grill.

The stand is on Rt. 11 just south of the Rockingham Farmers Market (with the windmills) and is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Corn is priced $5.50/dozen, $3/half dozen, and $0.50 an ear. The fields surround the stand ... it is as fresh as it can be -- picked each morning. Their phone number is 540.434.2196.

Summer and corn-on-the-cob. As Andy Griffith would say, "Hmm, hmm, good!"

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
August 28, 2013