MPT series Maryland Farm & Harvest features Washington, Talbot, Queen Anne’s, Frederick, and Anne Arundel counties on Jan. 30

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) popular original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, now in its fifth season, will feature locations in Washington, Talbot, Queen Anne’s, Frederick and Anne Arundel counties during the episode airing Tuesday, January 30 at 7 p.m.

The upcoming episode features the following segments:

• Hayes Apiary, in Smithsburg (Washington County). The Maryland Department of Agriculture is the only agency of its kind in the country to employ a “bee dog” – in this case a canine used to sniff beehives to check for a contagious, colony-killing bacteria known as American Foulbrood.  In this segment viewers follow Mack, a yellow lab, and his handler Cybil Preston, as they inspect hundreds of hives before they are sent to California to pollinate the almond crop.  Ora Hayes of Hayes Apiary in Washington County explains why almond growers are willing to pay beekeepers like him to ship millions of bees across the country each winter.
• BeeGeorge Honey, in Worton (Talbot County). Beekeeper George Meyer of BeeGeorge Honey runs approximately 200 bee colonies in Talbot and Montgomery counties. He is proud of the sweet, amber-colored product he markets, but he’ll readily admit the bees do most of the work.  George explains how bees make honey and how he collects, extracts and bottles it for consumers to enjoy.
• Chesterhaven Beach Farm, on Kent Island (Queen Anne’s County). Kara Brook uses beeswax as a medium for her painting. A quest for wax to sustain her creative endeavors led Kara to become a beekeeper. She then converted a portion of her 100-acre farm on Kent Island in Queen Anne’s County from corn and soybeans to fields of wildflowers, which provide nectar and pollen that her 18 hives thrive on. She now relies on these bees for her Waxing Kara line of skin care products, such as honey body butter, masks and scrubs, sold online and at retail at the Honey House in Baltimore County.
• Linganore Winecellars, in Mt. Airy (Frederick County). On this week’s “The Local Buy” segment, host Al Spoler tastes one of the world’s oldest alcoholic beverages, semi-sweet honey mead, at the Maryland Renaissance Festival in Crownsville in Anne Arundel County. But first, he visits Linganore Winecellars in Mt. Airy in Frederick County for a visit with head winemaker Anthony Aellan and to see how their Medieval Mead is made. Viewers can find recipes for cooking with mead at mpt.org/farm.

Watch a preview

Maryland Farm & Harvest takes viewers on a journey across the state, telling stories about the farms, people, and technology required to sustain and grow Maryland’s number one industry: agriculture. Over the past year, MPT’s production team has filmed stories at more than four dozen farms in preparation for the new season. Maryland’s rich agricultural heritage, the importance of bees, and growing crops in the face of changing weather patterns are among themes covered in depth during upcoming episodes.

More than five million viewers have tuned in to Maryland Farm & Harvest since its fall 2013 debut. The series has visited more than 200 farms in its first four seasons, covering every Maryland county, as well as Baltimore City and Washington, D.C.

Joanne Clendining, who earned an Emmy® from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for her work as Maryland Farm & Harvest host, returns for season five. She is joined by Al Spoler, co-host of WYPR-FM’s “Cellar Notes” and “Radio Kitchen” programs, who hosts The Local Buy segment during each episode.

Maryland Farm & Harvest airs Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 11:30 p.m. and Sundays at 6 a.m. Each show also airs on MPT2 Fridays at 7:30 p.m.  More information about the series is available at mpt.org/farm. Viewers can join the conversation on social media at #MDFarmHarvestFans.

Agriculture is Maryland’s largest commercial industry, contributing more than $17 billion in revenue each year. As of 2016 approximately 350,000 Marylanders are employed in some aspect of agriculture. The state has 12,300 farms accounting for approximately two million acres, with nearly 6,000 full-time farmers.  Today, 110 farms and more than 7,679 acres are certified organic in Maryland.

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; MidAtlantic Farm Credit; the Maryland Agricultural Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation; the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation; and the Maryland Soybean Board.

Other support comes from Wegmans Food Markets; the Maryland Nursery, Landscape & Greenhouse Association; the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.; the University of Maryland Agriculture Law Education Initiative; the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts; the Maryland Farm Bureau Service Company, and by Mar-Del Watermelon Association; Hoffman Irrigation, LLC, an authorized Valley Irrigation dealer; Chesapeake College; and the Rural Maryland Council.

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Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter @MdAgDept