New Season of MPT’s Maryland Farm & Harvest Debuts November 14

Season 11 premiere visits farm locations in Dorchester, Frederick, and Washington counties

ANNAPOLIS, MD (November 7, 2023) – Maryland Public Television’s (MPT) popular original series Maryland Farm & Harvest returns for its 11th season on Tuesday, November 14 with the first of 13 new half-hour episodes. A preview of the new season is available for viewing at youtube.com/watch?v=sIDQRLUlMMo. 

Maryland Farm & Harvest airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT-HD and online at mpt.org/livestream. Following their broadcast premiere, episodes are also available to view on demand using MPT’s online video player and the PBS App. Encore broadcasts air on MPT-HD Thursdays at 11 p.m. and Sundays at 6 a.m. Episodes also air on MPT2/Create® on Fridays at 7:30 p.m.

The 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. 

Over the course of its 11th season, Maryland Farm & Harvest will introduce a new segment called “Farm to Skillet,” during which a variety of local chefs leads viewers through the process of finding, preparing, and presenting the locally produced ingredients that make up some of their favorite dishes. The first “Farm to Skillet” segment, featuring Ekiben chef Steve Chu at the Fells Point Farmers Market, will debut during the series’ second episode premiering on November 21.

The November 14 season premiere features farms and locations in Dorchester, Frederick, and Washington counties. Segments airing during the episode are:

Pop’s Old Place (Dorchester County)– Host Joanne Clendining returns to the field, visiting a heritage breed livestock farm in Hurlock called Pop’s Old Place. There, third-generation farmer Darlene Goehringer puts Joanne to work feeding the farm’s unique mule-foot hogs, wrangling the Randall Lineback cattle from paddock to paddock, and bottle-feeding baby lambs. Along the way, Joanne learns how Darlene transformed her family farm from cash crops to pastureland and discovers how important land stewardship is to Darlene – and to the future of farming. 

Moon Valley Farm (Frederick County)-At Moon Valley Farm in Frederick, viewers meet first-generation farmer Emma Jagoz, who has built a year-round community-supported agriculture (CSA) venture growing produce. But before the hoop houses and farm fields, Emma’s agricultural journey began as an expectant mother hoping fresh veggies like arugula would help her baby’s development. After blowing her grocery budget one too many times, Emma started a balcony garden on a lark. Twelve years later, Emma has grown well beyond the garden and her CSA is now responsible for feeding more than 600 families, a testament to her tenacity and love of farming.

The Local Buy: Frog Eye Farm (Washington County)– Marylanders leap to Frog Eye Farm in Knoxville every summer for juicy blueberries and beautiful scenery. Al Spoler joins visitors meandering through the farm’s 2,200 blueberry plants while enjoying both the sunshine and the panoramic mountain views that surround them. Owner Dan Mills gives Al a tour of the orchard while explaining his pesticide-free farming practices and extolling the fruit as nature’s antioxidant.  

Nearly 16 million viewers have watched Maryland Farm & Harvest on MPT since the series’ debut in 2013. The series has traveled to nearly 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 Agriculture Education and Rural Development 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. 

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