Taylor's Produce challenges the Cape Region

As traffic crawled east along Route 24 for Independence Day, Taylor's Produce, a new family-run vegetable stand between Rehoboth Beach and Lewes, gave away 55 dozen ears of Delmarva farm-raised sweet corn during their first ‘Sweet Corn Challenge’ in eastern Sussex County.

Owner Debby Taylor said her family farm is known for its sweet corn, which was sold to other farmers markets in Maryland and western Sussex County until they began opening their own retail outlets in Preston, Md. nearly 20 years ago.

“We are at a new location, so people aren’t used to seeing our sweet corn,” Taylor said. “We wanted to put out a challenge to try our sweet corn and hopefully come back for more.”

The Cape Region location is the fourth location in addition to other produce stands the family operates in St. Michael's and Preston, Md., as well as one other location Seaford.

The July Fourth challenge was a success, employee Erin Van Kampen said, but it was just the first of what the Taylor family hopes will be several sweet corn challenges through the summer months this year to launch the new business.

Van Kampen said the stand, located just in front of Sussex Tree Landscaping Center on Route 24, is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday and is always stocked with fresh produce from the Taylors' 120-acre farm in Preston, as well as some additional items from other local farmers.

“The Taylors' farm in Preston is where they grow our beans, corn, squash, zucchini and tomatoes,” Van Kampen said. “Everything else comes from local farms in Preston and right now, the peaches are from Salisbury.”

Employee Kim Worst said the stand carries a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables, but the sweet corn is what the farm is known for in Preston.

“It’s very tender, very sweet,” Worst said. “I don’t know if corn can melt in your mouth, but some people say it does.”