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| The entrance to DePiero's Country Farm store on a hill in Montvale. |
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| Stairs to the store's gift and housewares loft. |
No visit to Montvale would be complete without stopping at the hilltop store of DePiero's Country Farm.
Unfortunately, all of the fresh, local produce and the relaxed food-shopping experience soon may be just a memory.
If town officials approve, half of the farm's 55 acres will be used to build a huge Wegmans Food Market, displacing the homey farm store.
The Wegmans would be the chain's first store in Bergen County.
The Wegmans in Woodbridge is an enormous 140,000 square feet -- bigger than any other supermarket in Bergen.
Photos of the Woodbridge Wegmans
On Monday, I stopped at DePiero's for a large cup of soup and purchased sweet corn, romaine lettuce, basil and leeks, all grown on the farm.
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| Fragrant basil, above. Romaine lettuce and leeks, below. |
In late afternoon, customers arrived in twos and threes, but the store never got crowded.
The thick, meatless lentil soup was delicious.
When I got home, I shucked and steamed the bi-color corn, which was sweet and need nothing (6 ears for $3.50).
It was far superior to corn I picked up last week at the Ramsey Farmers' Market.
I chopped some of DePiero's fresh basil, along with oregano and mint from my garden, to use with fresh wild king salmon on Tuesday night.
I plan to use the rest of the basil to make pesto, which is wonderful with fish.
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| A plastic spoon stood up easily in the thick soup. |
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| Halloween costumes are available now. |
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| DePiero's greenhouse. |
DePiero's Country Farm Store, 300 W. Grand Ave., Montvale; 201-391-4576. Open 7 days until 6 p.m.
Web site: An Old-Fashioned Farm
