♪ ♪ HOST: From every corner of the state, Maryland agriculture is on full display.

Did you know farming can cultivate societal change?

That food scraps are garden gold?

And that some noisy fruit is the best?

Don't go away.

Stories about the people who work the land and grow our food, plus the local buy, are coming up next on Maryland Farm & Harvest .

ANNOUNCER: Major funding for Maryland Farm and Harvest is made possible in part by...

The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board: Investing in smarter farming to support safe and affordable food, feed, and fuel, and a healthy Bay... Additional funding provided by... Maryland's Best: Good for You, Good for Maryland...

Rural Maryland Council, a collective voice for rural Maryland... MARBIDCO: Helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations... A grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Program... Farm Credit: Lending Support to Agriculture and Rural America...

The Maryland Soybean Board and Soybean Checkoff Program: Progress Powered by Farmers... Wegmans Food Market: Healthier, better lives through food...

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts... CHILD: The Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

ANNOUNCER: And by...

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association...

The Maryland Seafood Marketing Fund...

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated...

The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment... And by... Closed Captioning has been made possible by Maryland Relay, empowering those who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled to stay connected by phone.

♪ ♪ JOANNE CLENDINING: Maryland agriculture owes its success to families.

Of the 12,000 plus farms in Maryland, 96 percent are family run operations.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining.

Welcome to the 10th anniversary season of Maryland Farm & Harvest.

We're here at Panora Acres in Manchester, where seven generations of the seller's family have worked this land since 1888.

And with four generations still producing here, this is the epitome of a family farm.

Now, if you've been watching Maryland Farm & Harvest from day one, you might remember that we visited Panora Acres way back in season one, and it's as lovely as ever.

Coming up, a Montgomery County company has a clever solution to turn food scraps into black gold.

But first, a Baltimore neighborhood is transformed from a food desert to an urban oasis, where the bonds of family are in the farm's DNA.

♪ ♪ On a patchwork collection of vacant lots, in Baltimore's Park Heights neighborhood, a dedicated group of volunteers are collecting the daily harvest.

FARMER CHIPPY: If you look along here, you will see colors, different types of kale.

There's dragon kale, there's curly kale, curly blue kale, there's mustard greens, lettuce of all type, bok choy, cauliflower.

All of them are part of the brassica family.

JOANNE: The 10 acre urban farm is the brainchild of a man who goes by the name of Farmer Chippy.

FARMER CHIPPY: When I first started this eight years ago, they asked me, "Sir, what's your impact?

What's your ROI?"

I didn't know what the ROI was.

I said, "What is the ROI?"

They said, "Return on investment."

I said, "Oh um, a better human."

JOANNE: Farmer Chippy grew up in Trinidad and Tobago where community and fellowship was a large part of daily life.

FARMER CHIPPY: Hey did you see them filming?

After moving to Baltimore and not being able to find that same type of fellowship, he decided to create it for himself.

And in 2008, Plantation Park Heights was born.

And the name is meant to be provocative and spark conversation.

FARMER CHIPPY: It's at the plantation where one group produced massive amounts of food and the other group earned the money.

We're saying those who plant will eat.

That's all we're saying.

We're saying there's no reason to repeat bad history.

We're saying equity and equality in everything that we do.

So we have a mission.

Our mission is to add value to our children by letting them know they are valuable.

Not how much money you make, not what school you went to, not what car you drive.

JOANNE: Farmer Chippy, along with his partner, Farmer Tiara, have created an environment where everyone in the community is welcome.

FARMER TIARA: So here, we try to be a supportive collective, a real family, teaching children and families how to live off the land and be sustainable and make their own products.

It's just been an exciting journey.

JOANNE: Plantation Park Heights is a place of peace for community members and a center for learning for young people.

JASIYAH GREEN: It's always love when you come here.

It's a lot of negativity around us, but so this is really a positive you know getaway.

It's very therapeutic in a way.

JOANNE: The farmers at Plantation Park Heights realize that by instilling a healthy attitude toward food in young people early on, it can make all the difference.

FARMER JILL: I think that having a connection to the Earth and to land and to living beings, plants and animals, insects, birds is so important for... your spirit and what you're putting into your body, and your health outcomes will dictate your quality of life.

JOANNE: And stressing the importance of education is their top priority.

JASIYAH: They most definitely push kids to stay in school and go to college, and that's most definitely the biggest push here is education and agriculture.

FARMER JILL: I love walking around the gardens with the children, taking off a little piece of mint or a little piece of cilantro or a little piece of oregano and have them really smell it and take it in.

It's really beautiful.

♪ ♪ FARMER CHIPPY: Welcome to the Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm Farmer's Market Stand.

Over here, we have young people who are creating their own work and managing their own resources.

JOANNE: Plantation Park Heights gets most of its funding through grants and donations, but they also sell their daily harvest at several local farmer's markets.

FARMER CHIPPY: Have you tasted the tropics lately?

No?

[laughs] JOANNE: Today, they're at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where a brisk lunchtime crowd enjoys the fruits of their labor.

FARMER CHIPPY: This is called Farm to Belly.

FARMER TIARA: I get up every day.

I'm happy for the farm.

I'm happy for the community.

But I'm just here living my best life with these kids, planting, learning.

They teach- they think I teach them everything.

They teach me so much, you feel me, so it's a give and take and I'm just happy to be here.

FARMER CHIPPY: We are going to build from the ground up, feed every child, increase their attention span by making sure they get the right food that interferes with their neural pathways, their ability to grasp information and retain it.

JOANNE: Farmer Chippy and Plantation Park Heights has had a profound impact on the community of Park Heights, and he hopes his work will have a lasting imprint on the hearts and minds of the young people who come here.

And with that, Chippy gives them a simple philosophy to live by.

FARMER CHIPPY: People will remember the way you make them feel.

So in your travels, be nice and work hard.

JOANNE: Richard Francis, aka Farmer Chippy, has also created a community shared agriculture and training resource he's called Agrihood.

It's a co-op where other neighborhoods can start their own urban farms.

And did you know, if you have to travel more than a mile in an urban area to buy affordable, healthy food, or more than 20 miles in a rural area, you live in what the USDA considers a food desert?

♪ ♪ Okay, here we go.

It's time to put your farm tool knowhow to the test.

Here is our thingamajig for the week.

Any guesses?

Well, here's a hint.

It's used to help make a deliciously sweet spreadable.

Stay tuned and we'll have the answer at the end of the show.

One thing that farmers appreciate just as much as those amber waves of grain is a love of nature.

We asked folks to send in their favorite photos of the natural world.

Enjoy.

♪ ♪ If you're like me, you just hate throwing those food scraps into the trash.

Now, a clever company turns that nastiness into rich, hassle-free compost.

No fuss, no muss.

♪ ♪ BEN PERRY: Food waste recycling is still a new idea for a lot of people, but it's growing fast.

Our biggest competitor at the moment is still the trash can.

So it's just so easy for individuals and businesses to throw all of their waste into one receptacle and just forget about it.

JOANNE: But Ben Perry, CEO of Compost Crew, wants people to be more mindful and think twice before simply throwing out their food scraps into a trash bin.

BEN: We want you to engage with your waste.

We want to recover as much of the organic matter as possible so that we can do something productive with it.

JOANNE: From trash to treasure.

In this case, food scraps to black gold.

BEN: Of all the food that we make, 60 to 70 million tons gets wasted, and about three quarters of that ends up in the landfill, an incinerator, or down the drain in the sewer.

So that's a whole lot of organic material that is essentially rotting into methane gas.

JOANNE: Compost Crew, a subscription based food collection service in Rockville, recovers, recycles, and reuses compostable waste.

BEN: We have an opportunity to capture that organic material and recycle it into a commodity like compost.

JOANNE: This morning, the crew is making its weekly rounds in the town of Chevy Chase in Montgomery County.

Their service spans throughout the Washington, D.C. region.

BEN: So we have thousands of residential customers who subscribe to our services.

So they pay us just like they pay a trash or recycling service, they'll pay us to collect food scraps from their homes.

JOANNE: In exchange for food scraps that would otherwise literally go to waste in the dumpster, this material will be processed into nutrient-rich compost and be put to good use.

BEN: Our residential customers are entitled to get compost back, so they give us their food scraps instead of throwing them into the trash can, we collect those food scraps, and then we do the processing of the food scraps into compost for them.

And so essentially, they're outsourcing the composting to us.

JOANNE: It's a collective collaboration between Compost Crew, their customers, and local farms.

These food scraps make their way to One Acre Farm in Dickerson.

Here on his 34 acre farm, Mike Protoss grows a variety of vegetables.

Today, all hands are on deck packing bags for their CSA members.

MIKE PROTOSS: Today's share, we're doing cucumbers, cantaloupe, tomatoes, mini bell peppers, onions, sweet Carmen peppers.

Now we do about six acres of vegetables and feed around 400 families a week throughout the year.

JOANNE: Planting, harvesting, packing, and managing daily tasks on the farm.

This means working seven days a week around the clock.

One Acre Farm's partnership is a win-win situation for Compost Crew and Mike.

BEN: We partner with a farm like One Acre Farm and we will build a modular turnkey composting system, and we're making compost.

JOANNE: That's one less chore for Mike.

MIKE: I don't have to worry about compost anymore because they do the work for me.

JOANNE: And he doesn't have to go far to purchase fresh compost to spread in his fields.

MIKE: They pay a rental to be on the property.

They use the utilities.

And in turn, I get compost made professionally as opposed to me making it, which would not be as nearly as good.

JOANNE: Composting is a long and tedious job.

Food scraps collected this morning from over 400 homes will take hours to process.

First, the crew handpicks non-compostable items out of the pile.

BRIAN CAMPOS: Call it decontamination.

So what we're doing here is just getting the food scraps out of the bags.

JOANNE: Next, the food waste is integrated with dry material, including wood chips and leaves.

Simultaneously, water is added to the mix to help with decomposition and keeps the mixture's temperature regulated.

BRIAN: We uh mix the dry and wet material together to give the microorganisms the ideal environment that they need to do their work.

And ultimately, the food scraps get broken down into a uniform product that we call compost.

JOANNE: Once the material has been thoroughly mixed... ...it's moved into these shipping containers.

This stage is known as the hot or active phase, where decomposition speeds up and produces heat.

BRIAN: The reason why we have them in the bins is because we blow air through the bottom of the baseboards and up through the piles, and we call that forced aeration.

JOANNE: Holes are poked into the baseboard to allow air up through the bottom of the surface.

Oxygen is pumped into the piles with the help of an electric blower.

BRIAN: When you force air through the piles, you don't have to turn them.

That's a big uh, labor savings.

JOANNE: The material will remain in these bays until it's ready for the final stage.

After four to six weeks, the compost is moved out for curing.

BRIAN: Curing phase is about two months.

JOANNE: The compost will sit here until it matures.

The pile's temperature will decrease as it becomes dark brown and admits a natural, earthy smell.

[plastic crinkling] It's an exciting morning at One Acre Farm.

Today, residents who are subscribers of the Compost Crew collection service receive their share of what they had a hand in producing.

KRIS BROWER: We actually tried composting at home at first, and it was too hard.

[laughs] We actually use compost in our garden, so this is great.

JOANNE: Now, Kris Brower can just focus on gardening and let Compost Crew do the heavy lifting.

Compost Crew serves thousands of residential communities, organizations, and government buildings in Maryland.

Check out our resources page if you want to change your food waste into organic goodness.

And did you know that almost 3 million tons of municipal solid waste end up in a landfill, and that about 34% of that is food and yard waste?

You guessed it, recycling really does make a difference.

Coming up, Al Spuller takes us apple picking.

But first, agriculture is a legacy business handed down from generation to generation, like here at Panora Acres.

But with the advances in technology and innovation, continuing education is as important then as it is now.

♪ ♪ Before 1862, a university education was reserved mostly for the sons of the privileged class.

In an effort to make higher education available to the working classes, President Lincoln signed into law The Moral Act of 1862.

Also known as The Land Grant Act, this legislation gave states federal land for establishing public colleges, one per state to teach agriculture, mechanical arts, and military tactics.

University of Maryland College Park was one of them.

The act improved the lives of many Americans, but not all.

Black residents of Maryland and other southern states were excluded from the original land grant institutions.

A second moral act in 1890 established land grant colleges that would admit African Americans, among them, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Two later acts expanded the land grant system.

The Hatch Act of 1887 created agricultural experiment stations, research centers that conduct laboratory research for the benefit of Maryland farmers and other residents.

The Smith Lever Act of 1914 established an official system of cooperative extension services.

This allowed land grant universities to take their research knowledge straight to local communities, giving people access to the latest developments in agriculture and home economics.

Today, the University of Maryland College Park and Eastern Shore continue to fulfill their original land grant mandate, to provide teaching, research and service, not only to their students, but to all the residents of Maryland.

Part of our 10th anniversary celebration, this week's the local buy is from our first season, when Al went in search of the loudest apples.

♪ ♪ AL SPULLER: This is wonderful up here.

[tractor motor sputtering] Well, it doesn't get any better than this.

It's a beautiful, cool, crisp, sunny, autumn day.

I'm up on a hilltop with Bob Black and we're looking down at your orchard.

This is the Catoctin Mountain Orchard and it's just gorgeous.

Now, this has been in your family for how long?

BOB BLACK: Since 1961.

AL: Wow.

And we're just a little bit East of Thurmont, and right down there that would be Route 15?

BOB: Right.

Heading to Gettysburg.

AL: That's right.

The pathway of the Civil War.

♪ [Dixie plays in the background] ♪ BOB: As my father's one rule always was handle these things like eggs, and you would never drop an egg.

AL: How many acres do we have here?

BOB: We've got 100 acres of all kinds of tree, fruit, and berries.

The main crops are apples and peaches.

AL: And what are these pretty babies right here?

BOB: These happen to be Pink Lady, which is really kind of a newer apple over the last several years.

AL: I think that apples have trends, that there's a buzz around a certain apple.

BOB: Oh yeah.

And right now, I don't have to say anything, but Honeycrisp and everybody knows Honeycrisp.

And people wonder why it costs so much.

Why is that apple so expensive?

It's probably one of the most difficult apples for us to grow.

AL: If I had to ask you to name one good all-purpose apple, good for eating, good for baking, could you do that?

BOB: Golden Delicious has always been still a good old standby apple for eating, for pan fried apples, whatever you wanted to do, sauce, baked apples.

AL: How do you decide on the ones that you want to work with?

BOB: I say, we sell noisy apples that crunch and make lots of noise.

[crunching] AL: Indeed, Bob has a passion for apples and for growing just about anything.

I've been on many farms, but I have never seen kale like Bob's.

Bob, I can't believe this is kale because it's so tall.

BOB: This is some of the tallest kale I've ever grown.

We've added a lot more compost to it and it's just unbelievable with the season.

People making kale chips is what our demand is now.

It's incredible.

BOB: Oh yeah.

AL: Wow.

AL: Chilly in here.

BOB: Has to be for apples.

You want to keep it cool.

It's about 33, 34 degrees right now.

AL: On one point, Bob is adamant, if you want your apples to last, keep them in the fridge in plastic.

This is the Fuji and this is a beautiful apple.

BOB: It's a wonderful apple.

I mean it's very versatile.

It actually keeps better probably than most any of the apples we grow.

It gives off less ethylene, and ethylene is that ripening gas.

That's like I say, comes off of any of the fruit.

And because of that, it just keeps wonderfully crisp and juicy, also.

But you still got to remember when you do it, don't put them in the bowl.

Put them in the fridge in the plastic bag and they'll keep great.

AL: Well, I like having them in the bowl because they look nice in there.

BOB: Oh yeah.

You can do it just to show people you got the apples and tell them to eat them right away.

AL: Well, I'll eat them right away.

Bob is a big supporter of the buy local movement, and he landed a big local contract thanks to his grandkids.

BOB: Because when I was going to visit my grandchildren at the cafeteria eating lunch with them, I'd seen kids in there eating Red Delicious from the West Coast.

Two bites out of it and it went in the trash.

And I knew that they were not good apples at that point.

AL: Now, all Frederick County schools serve up Bob's prized apples.

JUDITH GORDON: The kids comment to me often that the apples taste so great and they want to know how they're grown.

And I tell them to come out here and Bob will give them a lesson in how apples are grown.

AL: So if you saw it growing out there, you can buy it right in here.

It's a great little market.

Well, this is an absolute picture of temptation.

It's the pie counter here at Catoctin Mountain Orchards and they've got so many different things.

BOB: Yeah.

How about a four berry?

AL: Oh my goodness.

With a lattice crust.

BOB: Lots of berries.

AL: Oh my Lord.

Look at that.

Let's give this a try.

[laughs] Oh my goodness.

For the local buy, I'm Al Spuller.

Joanne?

JOANNE: That was fun.

Be sure to check out mpt.org/farm for all our recipes and resources.

Plus you can watch all Farm & Harvest episodes there as well.

Also, don't forget to follow us on social media for show updates, pictures and videos.

Now wait a minute, don't get up.

Remember our thingamajig?

Did you guess it?

Our hint was that it's used to help make a deliciously sweet spreadable.

This is an apple butter stirrer.

When they had a huge kettle of apples cooking down to make apple butter, this long tool was used to stir the mix so it wouldn't burn, and so they wouldn't burn themselves.

Congratulations if you got it right.

Join in next week for another thingamajig along with more stories about the diverse, passionate people who feed our state.

I'm Joanne Clendining.

Thanks for watching.

FARMER CHIPPY: Farmer Chippy, Plantation Park Heights mon.

[laughs] All right Billy.

Hello, get your greens.

[crowd talking] Closed Captioning has been made possible by Maryland Relay, empowering those with hearing and speech loss to stay connected.

♪ ♪ ANNOUNCER: Major funding for Maryland Farm and Harvest is made possible in part by...

The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board: Investing in smarter farming to support safe and affordable food, feed, and fuel, and a healthy Bay.

Additional funding provided by... Maryland's Best: Good for You, Good for Maryland.

Rural Maryland Council, a collective voice for rural Maryland.

MARBIDCO: Helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations... A grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Program... Farm Credit: Lending Support to Agriculture and Rural America...

The Maryland Soybean Board and Soybean Checkoff Program: Progress Powered by Farmers... Wegmans Food Market: Healthier, better lives through food...

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts... CHILD: The Maryland Agriculture Educational Foundation promoting the importance of agriculture in our daily lives.

ANNOUNCER: And by...

The Maryland Nursery Landscape and Greenhouse Association...

The Maryland Seafood Marketing Fund...

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated...

The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment... And by... ♪ ♪