MPT Series Maryland Farm & Harvest Visits Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick & Harford Counties, Baltimore City During Nov. 27 Episode

Ellerton View Farm. photo credit: MPT’s Maryland Farm & Harvest

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) popular original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, in its sixth season, will feature farms and other locations in Allegany, Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick and Harford Counties, as well as Baltimore City during a new episode airing Tuesday, November 27 at 7 p.m.

Maryland Farm & Harvest takes viewers on journeys across the state, telling stories about the farms, people, and technology required to sustain and grow Maryland’s number one industry: agriculture. During the past year, MPT’s production team has filmed episode segments at more than four dozen farms in preparation for the new season. Segments featured on the upcoming episode are:

• Syrup to Cereal (Allegany & Baltimore Counties): “Wind from the west, sap runs best” is a mantra Corriganville maple syrup grower Leo Shinholt has followed since he began tapping trees in the mountains of Allegany County six decades ago. After a visit to Leo’s S&S Maple Camp – the largest maple syrup producer in Maryland – for a tutorial on how sap becomes syrup, the action moves to Baltimore County where Michele Tsucalas of Michele’s Granola in Timonium explains why her company uses Leo’s syrup in its muesli.
• Dairy Industry Struggles (Carroll & Frederick Counties): Agriculture is a volatile business. Profits each year are dependent on factors outside a farmer’s control, such as market prices and weather. Even among farmers, milking cows is recognized as one of the most difficult ways to make a living, and consistently low prices have pushed some Maryland farmers to sell their herds. This segment focuses on two dairy farm families: the Haines family of Locust-Ayr Farm in Taneytown (Carroll County) and the Grossnickle family of Ellerton View Farm in Myersville (Frederick County). They explain why the dairy farming lifestyle is a challenging one and how it is so ingrained in their DNA they cannot imagine doing anything else.
• Farmer Conservationist (Harford County): Harford County farmer Lee McDaniel takes viewers on a tour of his historic Indian Spring Farm in Darlington – a place where French troops once camped during the Revolutionary War on their way to the decisive battle of Yorktown. McDaniel’s farm has a fascinating past, but his focus is on its future. He employs a number of conservation practices on his 860-acre grain farm and, as a past president of the National Association of Conservation Districts, he is an advocate for sustainable farming on a national level. McDaniel explains why Marylanders are ahead of the curve when it comes to being good stewards of the land.
• The Local Buy: Farm to Chocolate (Baltimore County & Baltimore City): This segment begins at Crooked Fence Farm, a 15-acre farm in Glyndon where Billy and Sarah McCarthy raise 65 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Segment host Al Spoler joins in as they harvest spearmint before he heads to Belvedere Square Market in Baltimore City to see how Jinji Fraser of Pure Chocolate by Jinji incorporates it into a ganache. But, it’s not all about the sweets; Frasier explains her philosophy that chocolate is not just for dessert, and treats Al to a white chocolate potato soup using potatoes from Crooked Fence Farm.

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

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 Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit; Maryland’s Best; the Maryland Agricultural Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation; the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation; and the Maryland Soybean Board. Other support comes from the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts; Wegmans Food Markets; the Maryland Nursery, Landscape & Greenhouse Association; the Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.; the Rural Maryland Council; the Maryland Seafood Marketing Advisory Commission; the Maryland Farm Bureau, Inc.; Mar-Del Watermelon Association; and the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission.

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Follow Maryland Department of Agriculture on Twitter @MdAgDept