Episode of Maryland Farm & Harvest visits Prince George’s County

Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, in its 12th season, will feature farms and locations in Prince George's, Baltimore, and Frederick counties during an episode premiering on Tuesday, February 18. A preview of the new episode can be found on the series’ webpage at mpt.org/farm.

Maryland Farm & Harvest airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and online at mpt.org/livestream. Episodes are also available to view live and on-demand using the free PBS app and MPT’s online video player.

The popular weekly series takes viewers 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.

Joanne Clendining, who 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, hosts the series. She is joined by Al Spoler, host of “The Local Buy” segments, and by a variety of local chefs who serve as guest hosts of the series’ “Farm to Skillet” segments.

With introductions filmed at Sharps at Waterford Farm in Brookeville (Howard County), the February 18 episode features the following stories:

• The Local Buy: Food Historian Joyce White (Prince George’s County) – Segment host Al Spoler heads to Riversdale House Museum in Riverdale Park, where he meets up with food historian Joyce White to learn about her new book Cooking Maryland’s Way: Voices of a Diverse Cuisine, a companion to the classic 1963 cookbook Maryland’s Way. The two gather fresh heritage crops from the museum’s grounds before heading inside to prepare succotash, Brunswick stew, and corn pudding using traditional cooking techniques and historic recipes found in White’s new book.
• IVF at Mercuro Farms (Frederick County) – Joanne Clendining takes a trip to Mercuro Farms in Rocky Ridge, where renowned veterinarian Dr. Tom Mercuro and his team house and manage some of the dairy cattle world’s most valuable embryo donors. Dr. Mercuro walks Joanne through steps in the Embryonic Transfer and In Vitro Fertilization procedures and illustrates the unique role Maryland dairy farmers play in enhancing the United States’ leadership in supplying purebred dairy genetics worldwide.
• KDrones at Richardson Farms (Baltimore County) – Richardson Farms in White Marsh is one of the largest growers of Kale in Maryland, and diamondback moths have taken notice. To combat the notorious crop killers without using conventional pesticides, farmer Brian Richardson calls in Kirk and William “Bugg” Floyd of KDrones Services to airdrop more than 100,000 parasitic wasps onto his crops. The wasps feed on moths during their caterpillar stage, providing Richardson’s crops with natural and longer-lasting protection from the dreaded diamondback.

More than 16 million viewers have watched Maryland Farm & Harvest on the statewide public TV network since its debut in 2013. The series has traveled to more than 500 farms, fisheries, and other agriculture-related locations during its 11-plus season run, covering every Maryland county, as well as Baltimore City and Washington, D.C.

Encore broadcasts air on MPT-HD on Thursdays at 11 p.m. and on Sundays at 6 a.m. Episodes also air on MPT2/Create® on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. Past episodes can be viewed on the free PBS app and MPT’s online video player, while episode segments are available on the series’ YouTube channel at youtube.com/c/MarylandFarmHarvest/featured.

Audiences are invited to engage with the series on social media @MarylandFarmHarvest on Facebook and @mdfarmtv on Instagram.

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; MARBIDCO; a grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crop Block Program; Farm Credit; Maryland Soybean Board; Maryland Nursery, Landscape & Greenhouse Association; Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts; Maryland Farm Bureau; The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation; and by the citizens of Baltimore County.