Fresh and Local At Harvest Moon

A busy spot adjacent to the traffic circle on Annapolis Road is now home to Harvest Moon Seafood and Produce, which opened its doors on July 8. 

Yong (pronounced Young) Hwang and her family took their 30 years of experience with fresh produce and brought it to Odenton, after previously operating a booth at the Pennsylvania Dutch Market near Hunt Valley, MD.

Yong brings many of her Pennsylania Dutch influences with her as you can tell by her passion for fresh local produce, fresh seafood and organic products.

This time of year, you'll find many locally grown apples available, along with other locally farmed items including corn, tomatoes, watermelon and oranges throughout the year.  At certain times of the day or when the weather is cool enough, you can find some of their featured produce on display in front of the store.

Besides offering a large variety of fruits and vegetables, the store also features a variety of dry goods such as beans, rice, nuts, dried fruit and Mrs. Miller's Homemade Noodles.  Customers can also find a line of McCutcheon's products, from nearby Frederick, MD, including cider, jellies, honey, apple butter, pumpkin butter and beet balls.

In addition to the produce and dry goods, they also sell an assortment of local seafood to include our iconic Maryland blue crab, whiting, scallops, catfish, shrimp, tilapia and flounder.  They sell the usual accouterments that go along with it including vinegar, sugar, ketchup, J.O. spices, crab batter, and of course, Old Bay seasoning.  After purchasing your crabs, you can take them home live, or have them steamed for free at the store.  While they have variety of crab sizes at reasonable prices by the dozen, you can also order up a whole crab feast for a party or event that includes a bushel of steamed crabs, two dozen ears of corn and two whole watermelons that usually feeds 10-14 people.

Caitlyn Taggart of Odenton is a regular at Harvest Moon.

"I like the selection, it's local, and they have good prices," she said.

Another patron, a husband who had been sent off to do his wife's bidding said that his wife is a regular there also.

One customer bought a McCutcheon's Sarsaparilla (also known as sasparilla), which Yong explained is a soda with a similar taste to root beer.  Sarsparilla is a root native to Mexico, Central America, and South America, and hence the descriptive name of root beer.

Harvest Moon Seafood and Produce already appears to have a loyal following, as customers follow a trend of supporting local farmers and retailers with high quality products.

For more information on healthy food shopping, read: Local Options for Healthy Cooking.