Photo Credit: MPT’s Maryland Farm & Harvest
ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) popular original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, now in its ninth season, featured farms and locations in Baltimore, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and Washington, D.C. during a new episode that aired on Tuesday, November 16 at 7 p.m. A season nine preview is available on YouTube.
The weekly series takes viewers on a journey across the Free State, telling interesting stories about the farms, people, and technology required to sustain and grow agriculture in Maryland, the number one commercial industry in the state.
Joanne Clendining, who has earned two Emmy® awards from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her work on Maryland Farm & Harvest, returns as host. She is joined by Al Spoler, who handles duties for each episode’s The Local Buy segment.
With introductions filmed at Hoober, Inc., a farm equipment dealer in New Windsor (Carroll County), the November 16 episode features the following segments:
- The Brood X Cicadas of 2021 (Montgomery and Baltimore counties). The Maryland Farm & Harvest team travels to Laytonsville in Montgomery County to meet with University of Maryland Entomologist Paula Shrewsbury, where she shares with viewers the science behind the 17-year cicadas’ re-emergence and her passion for the unique insects. At Playtime Pastures in Woodstock (Baltimore County), farmer Jamie Condon shares a similar affinity for cicadas because of the protein-packed snack they provide her free-range chickens. On the other hand, cicadas prove problematic for other aspects of Maryland agriculture such as new tree production. Back at Ruppert Nurseries in Laytonsville, Farm Operations Manager Nick Graves goes into detail about the damage done to young trees as a result of the cicadas’ summer visit.
- African American Farmers (Prince George’s County and Washington, D.C.). Despite historical oppression and abuse faced by African American farmers in years past, Gail Taylor has chosen to write her own narrative to cultivate a brighter future for agriculture. Three Part Harmony Farm, run by Gail in Northeast Washington D.C., is an example of what current and future generations of Black farmers can accomplish. She’s aligned herself with like-minded individuals to form the Black Dirt Farm Collective, which strives to redefine the relationship that Black people have with agriculture. The collective recently purchased 24 acres of land in Upper Marlboro (Prince George’s County) to create a space to help grow and inspire new generations of Black farmers.
- The Local Buy: Beets at Common Root Farm (Montgomery County). Segment host Al Spoler visits Common Root Farm in Derwood, where farm staff is busy harvesting a variety of vegetables. Ryan Kalivretenos focuses on cultivating a variety of colorful beets with benefits that support a healthy immune system. Cristin Coop of Coop’s Soups in Olney sources the fresh beets grown at the Common Root Farm to create delicious and nutritious beet soup. Cristin explains the ingredients that go into her beet soup and then Al gets a taste. A beet soup recipe will be available for viewers at mpt.org/farm/recipes.
Maryland Farm & Harvest airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and online at mpt.org/livestream. Encore broadcasts are available on MPT-HD Thursdays at 11 p.m. and Sundays at 6 a.m. Each episode also airs on MPT2/Create® on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
More than 10 million viewers have tuned in to Maryland Farm & Harvest since its fall 2013 debut. The series has traveled to nearly 400 farms, fisheries, and other agriculture-related locations during its first eight seasons, covering every Maryland county, as well as Baltimore City and Washington, D.C.
Past episodes can be viewed on MPT’s website, while episode segments are available on the series’ YouTube channel. Engage with the show on Maryland Farm & Harvest’s Facebook and Twitter.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture is MPT’s co-production partner for Maryland Farm & Harvest. Major funding is provided by the Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board.
Additional funding is provided by Maryland’s Best, Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO), a grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture’s Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, MidAtlantic Farm Credit, Cornell Douglas Foundation, Maryland Soybean Board, Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts, Wegmans Food Markets, Maryland Nursery, Landscape, and Greenhouse Association (MNLGA), the Maryland Seafood Marketing Fund, Maryland Farm Bureau, and The Campbell Foundation.
Other support comes from Mar-Del Watermelon Association and Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation (MAEF).
