MPT series visits Carroll, Frederick, and Prince Georges county farms

Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, now in its 10th anniversary season, will feature farms and locations in Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s counties during a “Greater Good” themed episode premiering on Tuesday, November 29.

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. Episodes are also available to watch on demand using MPT’s online video player and the PBS Video App.

The popular weekly series takes viewers on a journey across the Free State, telling engaging and enlightening stories about the farms, people, and technology required to sustain and grow agriculture in Maryland, the state’s number one commercial industry. During its 10th season, the series looks back to when it all began nearly a decade ago and revisits some favorite farms and farmers from past episodes.

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 Clark’s Elioak Farm in Ellicott City (Howard County), the November 29 episode features the following segments:

• Hand-painted Easter Eggs for Ukraine (Frederick and Montgomery counties). A local farm’s fresh eggs, two nationally-renown artists, and a farmer’s market join focus to raise money for Ukrainian relief. Farmer Jimmy Grinder from Orchard Breeze Farm in Thurmont raises free-range chickens and sells them at the Olney Farmers Market in Montgomery County. When Grinder heard about an effort by market organizers to conduct a raffle of hand-painted Easter eggs to benefit Ukrainian children, he was all in. Enter Greg and Jon Mort, father and son artists who have been painting decorative eggs for years. They painted two of Jimmy’s chicken eggs in brilliant designs and colors and took them to the Olney Farmers Market, where the egg raffle raised more than $1,000 for children in a Ukrainian hospital.

• 10th Anniversary Revisit, Season 3 - One For One Veggies, Miller Farms & Hungry Harvest (Prince Georges County). As part of Maryland Farm & Harvest’s 10th anniversary season, series producers are looking back at some of their favorite stories. In this segment from season three (2015), viewers revisit fifth-generation farmer Phil Miller of Miller Farms in Clinton to learn about his partnership with Pikesville-based Hungry Harvest. It’s a match made in altruism. Miller Farms donates what are called “seconds” – vegetables that may not have the perfect shape, size, or color – to Hungry Harvest, an organization that packages and delivers healthy produce to those in need. There are more than 50 million people in the United States who don’t have access to healthy, fresh food.

• The Local Buy: Microgreens Have Macro Flavor (Carroll County). Did you know that microgreens have big flavor? On this episode’s The Local Buy segment, Al Spoler visits Five Cedars Farm in Hampstead and owner Matt Azzam, who calls himself an experimental farmer. After a long career as an advertising executive, he and his wife decided to try farming. Since 2017 they’ve been growing microgreens and selling them to more than 30 restaurants and grocery stores. Al then goes to The Grill at Harryman House in Baltimore County where Chef Kirby Preroff creates a seafood delicacy using Five Cedar Farm’s microgreens. The recipe will be available at mpt.org/farm.

More than 14 million viewers have watched Maryland Farm & Harvest on MPT since its fall 2013 debut. The series has traveled to more than 430 farms, fisheries, and other agriculture-related locations during its first nine seasons, covering every Maryland county, as well as Baltimore City, and Washington, D.C.

Past episodes can be viewed at video.mpt.tv/show/maryland-farm-harvest/, while episode segments are available on the series’ YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/MarylandFarmHarvest/featured. Engage with the show on social media @MarylandFarmHarvest on Facebook and @mdfarmtv on 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 Specialty Crop Block Program, Farm Credit, Maryland Soybean Board, Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts, Wegmans Food Markets, Maryland Nursery, Landscape & Greenhouse Association, Maryland Seafood Marketing Fund, Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation, Maryland Farm Bureau, and The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

Other support comes from Mar-Del Watermelon Association.