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

Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, now in its 11th season, will feature farms and locations in Prince George’s, Caroline, Talbot, and Wicomico counties during an episode premiering on Tuesday, January 30. A preview of the 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 on the free PBS App and MPT’s online video player following their broadcast premiere. 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.

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.

Joanne Clendining, who has earned two regional Emmy® awards for her work on Maryland Farm & Harvest, serves as series host. She is joined during the season by Al Spoler, host of “The Local Buy” segments, and by a rotation of local chefs who each take a turn hosting a new segment called “Farm to Skillet,” during which viewers are led through the process of finding, preparing, and presenting the locally produced ingredients that make up some of the chefs’ favorite dishes.

With introductions filmed at the Basil Harding Farmstead – part of the Peace and Plenty Rural Historic District. in Frederick County – the January 30 episode features the following segments:

• Purple Mountain Organics Rice (Prince George’s County). Nazirahk Amen of Purple Mountain Organics in Takoma Park has been growing rice in Maryland for nearly a decade – just not in the way people usually imagine. Rather than growing the grain underwater as has been common practice for centuries, Nazirahk uses a System of Rice Intensification (SRI) method to grow rice on land as a regular garden vegetable. Viewers join Nazirahk as he harvests one of the six varieties he grows, observing the unique methods and exotic equipment his SRI farm uses.
• Mount Zion Farm (Caroline and Talbot counties). After discovering that his grandchildren were sensitive to gluten, farmer Gerry Godfrey of Mount Zion Farm in Marydel (Caroline County) began searching for grains his grandchildren could eat. He turned to an old-world grain – Einkorn wheat – which is one of the world’s earliest cultivated forms of wheat and has a gluten structure that is easier to break down than many modern hybrid wheats. Evidence suggests it may have been cultivated as far back as 30,000 years ago in the Middle East, where it still grows today. With the grain harvested and the wheat separated from the chaff, Gerry takes his Einkorn to Old Wye Mill (Talbot County) – the oldest continuously operated grist mill in the United States – to have the wheat ground into flour.
• The Local Buy: Chesterfield Heirlooms (Wicomico County). Matt and Stefanie Barfield of Chesterfield Heirlooms in Pittsville are committed to bringing the produce of years past – from seeds grown at Monticello to crops cultivated by the Cherokee – into the future. The farm’s heirlooms are all open-pollinated and true-to-type, meaning the flavor and genetics of each plant are the same as they were centuries ago. Segment Host Al Spoler tours the farm’s hoophouses, taste-tests a variety of freshly picked vegetables, and discovers that, at Chesterfield Heirlooms, every plant has a story to tell. More information about Chesterfield Heirlooms can be found at mpt.org/farm.

More than 16 million viewers have watched Maryland Farm & Harvest on MPT since its debut in 2013. The series has traveled to more than 450 farms, fisheries, and other agriculture-related locations during its first 10 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 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; a grant from the Rural Maryland Council Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund; 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 Farm Bureau; The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; and a contribution made by the Citizens of Baltimore County. Other support comes from the Mar-Del Watermelon Association and Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation.