Strawberry Fields Forever!

After relaxing at the Warwick Valley Winery & Distillery from our last posting, take Little York Road north for a driving expedition full of surprises. Winding through the foothills of Mt. Eve and Mt. Adam, look for the scale model of a church marking a peaceful Lutheran graveyard, and just beyond on the left, a roadside cemetery with stones from the 1800s.

Turn left at Mt. Eve Road and prepare to be transported into a veritable Eden--is it California? Spain? Italy? Welcome to the agricultural paradise known as the Black Dirt Region. A far-reaching flat plain rolling up into gentle hills, this was a glacial lake from 12,000 years ago. Then the waters receded, leaving up to 12 feet of jet-black organic decay. Reclaimed by Irish, Polish, German and Italian immigrants, these "drowned lands" now support a major onion crop, along with carrots, lettuce, corn, and as we happily discovered, pick-your-own strawberries.