Editor’s note: This article was originally published on the Web site, www.buckscountytaste.com, a thoroughly comprehensive guide to eating in Bucks County. Lynne Goldman and husband Mark Feffer, Wycombe residents, created the site, Feffer writes, “because we like food and the stories behind it, and because our part of Pennsylvania is populated by a unique group of farmers, chefs, writers, vintners, ice cream makers, bartenders and fire fighters who cook up pretty good pancakes one or two Sundays of the year.”
Goldman is an organizational psychologist and a freelance writer. Her hidden passion is cheese, especially those that go well with single-malt scotch or bourbon. Feffer is a journalist and a novelist who sees no reason not to grill steaks simply because it’s icing outside.

In Bucks, the land is expensive and the winters can be harsh. No secrets there. But one family-owned farm may have discovered a way around both obstacles.
By Lynne Goldman

Sitting around the kitchen table, nibbling away on Super Bowl Sunday last year, a friend shared her desire for fresh, local produce … in winter. “Now?” we said, glancing out the window at the frozen snow. “In Bucks County?”
Not so many years ago, you couldn’t get decent produce in winter. Then they started shipping stuff from Chile and other parts of South America. And we got spoiled. Avocados in January? Why not? Cheap asparagus in December? Of course! Most Americans don’t even know the origin of their produce, be it domestic or international. It’s just there. If it’s not, we get annoyed.
I know container shipping has gotten more sophisticated — vacuum-packing, temperature-controlled, yada, yada. But, yes, wouldn’t it be better to eat something locally produced? Two miles versus 2,000?
It’s happening here in Bucks County. In a small way, to be sure, but it’s happening. Blue Moon Acres in Buckingham grows excellent micro greens and other salad greens (note: mostly wholesale, but retail on Tuesdays and Fridays). And Maximuck’s Farm, on the outskirts of Doylestown, grows beautiful greens hydroponically. Over the past year-and-a-half, they built a state-of-the-art greenhouse and began selling a variety of salad greens in their market on Long Lane. In case you don’t know Maximuck’s, this family-owned and -operated farm sells its own produce, hormone-free beef, hormone-free milk, bedding plants, flowers, bird feed and more, year-round.
As I walked into the bright, sunny greenhouse, I was blown away. I spent the first five minutes taking photos of the greens. Then Matt Maximuck Jr. and I spoke about the new venture.
First off, why would a traditional farm go into hydroponics? I ask.
“We’re running out of farm ground,” Maximuck says. “This way we can grow a lot more in a little amount of space. It’s also the best way to grow stuff. Plants get more nutrients and it goes right to the roots. The plants don’t have to spend time [and energy] searching for nutrients, as they would in the soil.” It also conserves water, since the water is re-circulated.
Right now, Maximuck’s is concentrating on growing lettuces and greens: romaine, butterhead (Boston), red and green leaf lettuce, spinach and even bok choy. “We’re starting to grow some salad mixes. And we’re trying some heirloom lettuces, too,” Maximuck says.
The long-term plans, however, are far more ambitious and could, if achieved, spell the dawn of a new day in Bucks.
“Eventually, we want to be able to grow everything, all your normal vegetables, so people have fresh vegetables all year round,” Maximuck said. “But not everything that will grow outside will grow in a greenhouse,” or be economically feasible.
For now, you can purchase the greens at the Maximuck Farm Market (215-297-9894), 5793 Long Lane, near Street Road, in Doylestown. The market is open Tuesday through Saturday (winter hours may vary).
You will also see Maximuck’s greens at your local farm market under the name, White Star Growers Inc. Markets carrying them include: Altomonte’s, Mamma D’s, None Such Farm Market, Tanner Brothers and Zone 7 distributors (in New Jersey).