Steve, Frodo did not run into Merry and Pippin 'stealing farmer Maggot's crops'. Pippin left with them in Hobbiton, and Merry met up with them in Buckland I believe. This is the books forum.
Second, I think Aragorn would still probably have met up with them. He had found Gollum several months before Gandalf even goes to Isengard (before he tells Frodo about the ring), so he still would have been in the area. Gandalf even mentions this in the note that he sends to Frodo (but never gets delivered) that note was written on the asumption that Frodo would leave immediately, so Gandalf must have assumed that Aragorn would be around.
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