Comus Market

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

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.

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.