HOST: From every corner of the state, Maryland agriculture is a producer's paradise.

Did you know a century's old cuisine can have a new twist... a pig can have a litter of up to 20 piglets... and that cider-making is harder than you think?

Don't go away.

Stories about the people who work the land and feed our state, 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 Agricultural 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: The one thing that makes Maryland agriculture unique is its diversity, not only in the varied crops that are grown here, but also in the farming community.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining.

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

Agriculture is a huge umbrella that covers a wide assortment of products, from commodities like grain and dairy, to specialty crops like fruits and vegetables, and livestock and animals like the horses behind me.

Today, we're at the Center for Maryland Agriculture and Farm Park in Baltimore County, where visitors can explore just about every aspect of Maryland farming through hands-on demonstrations.

Coming up, a look back to season one and a story of a family farm with a perfect proportion of pigs and politics.

But first, a farming family from South Asia puts down new roots in Maryland to grow the colorful and aromatic crops of their homeland in this unique farm-to-table experience.

♪♪ Ananda Restaurant in Maple Lawn offers up a unique farm-to-table experience that hearkens back to Old World India.

During the night, owner Binda Singh regales and caters to his customers.

But by day, he ditches the suit for farm tools.

BINDA SINGH: This is my playground.

You can leave me in here and come back 10 days later; you'll still find me here if they didn't call from the restaurant and say, "All right, time to come here, and we need to do this and that."

JOANNE: It's early in the spring, and Binda and his farm team are planting onions and lettuce.

During peak season, this farm will supply 95 percent of the restaurant's produce.

Every crop is hand planted, which means a lot of work, but Binda doesn't mind.

BINDA: Sun beating on my back, this is where I thrive.

Farming is therapeutic, is instant gratification.

It teaches you patience, which we, in these days, we have less and less.

Everybody wants it now.

It teaches you that we are not in control, that Mother Nature controls it.

I can do everything right, and too much rain or no rain at all or something will happen where it's all gone.

I have to live with that.

JOANNE: For Binda, those lessons of letting go come from his first farming experiences growing up in Punjab, India.

BINDA: They call it the bread basket of India.

You know we're family.

We are all farmers: grandparents, everybody.

That's all we did.

Growing something of your own, you can't beat the taste.

And the way we grew up, a lot of animals, no politics, and it's just pure life.

Okay.

Even though you didn't really appreciate it because you grew up there.

So I didn't know anything different, like how it could be different, and coming here opened my eyes.

JOANNE: That childhood bliss was interrupted during a time of social unrest in Punjab, when followers of the Sikh religion, like Binda, were being persecuted.

BINDA: The decision to leave um, India wasn't... mine, although I did want to get out of there because in the 1980's and 1990's, Sikhs were under pressure after our prime minister was assassinated.

There was terrorism, and a lot of my friends were never found.

You know you go to school, and they're taken out, and some of them made it home banged up, and some of them never found.

And that was the decision my parents made, that there's a chance I will survive... the journey getting here.

Um, the chances of me surviving there were slim to none.

Leaving all that behind, what I missed the most is our routine, waking up, taking care of the animals.

Sometimes it was hard work, but once you're taken away, those are the things you miss because that's who I am.

JOANNE: After many years of working in restaurants, Binda's dream was to open a farm-to-table experience.

He got the chance to buy a property less than a mile away from his restaurant.

For some, it might have just been a plot of land, but for Binda, it was a chance to feel at home.

[Ducks quacking] BINDA: When the time came, we found this farm for sale... it was- I had everything back.

We built it slow by slow, step by step.

This is where I shine.

This is my happy place.

JOANNE: And while Binda left the farm in India, a small piece of Punjab will always be in the new fields that Binda sows.

BINDA: My father, when he came here, what he brought is... little bags of seed because he was leaving everything behind, and he wanted to bring something here, so he held it here.

Until we were able to find a place, we kept growing the seed.

That's what we grow.

Now we are going to have eggplant, all the chili peppers you can think about, cucumber, red pepper, and Indian squash.

And I want to keep that, that part of our history, where we come from.

JOANNE: Binda's farm uses no pesticides, instead opting for organic methods.

BINDA: The way we do... this farming is exactly the way my grandparents did, my parents did.

I need to know what goes into my crop to ensure the quality I want to put on a plate.

I want to serve real food with real flavor.

Sometimes it won't be the prettiest, but it will have the flavor.

We pick at 12:00.

It's on a plate at 4:00, and you can't beat that.

There's no way you can compare that quality with anything else.

It has to be done the hard way.

There's no shortcut to happiness, and there is no shortcut here.

JOANNE: Doing it the hard way means that Binda's harvest, like his planting, is done fully by hand.

The lack of machines has to be replaced by manpower, and today, Binda is getting a little extra help from his parents, taking him full circle.

BINDA: Ananda means bliss, the absolute happiness, the zen, when we rise above.

Ever since I moved here, this is what I was searching for.

Finally, I found my bliss.

JOANNE: Binda Singh owes the success of his Old World farm-to-table experience to the partnerships he's created with neighboring farms and community.

And did you know Asian American farmers have a rich history of contributing to U.S. agriculture dating back to the late 1800's?

According to a USDA study, there are about 26,000 Asian American farmers in the U.S. ♪♪ All right, it's time to test your agricultural know-how.

Here is our thingamajig for the week.

Do you think you know what it is?

Well, here's a hint.

It was found on most farm stands, but it wasn't used for crushing tin cans.

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

As part of our 10th anniversary season, we love revisiting memorable stories of farmers who have helped shape Maryland's agriculture community.

In this next segment, we look back to season one and a farming family who proved that pork and politics is a good thing.

♪♪ Before these little piggies go to market, they're living the good life here at Grand View Farms in Kennedyville on the Eastern Shore.

Eat all day, sleep all day.

You know the rest.

Grand View is a sixth-generation farm owned by Dutch Langenfelder and his wife Pat and their three kids.

Pat is the story here.

She is the first female president of the Maryland Farm Bureau, which also underwrites this series.

PAT LANGENFELDER: I felt it was very important for someone, and others as well, but to speak up for agriculture because we are such a small part of the population.

JOANNE: Pat has moved away from day-to-day hog and grain operations to speak out for farmers, often in Washington and Annapolis.

PAT: So I-I would uh, encourage you to support this bill.

KRISTEN NICKERSON: She's very busy.

She believes in what she's doing.

JENNIFER DEBNAM: She travels probably half of the year.

BILL LANGENFELDER: She always has a list in her house that she wants to be working on.

JOANNE: At home, Pat is proud that their three kids are able to run one of Maryland's largest hog farms.

Oldest daughter, Jennifer Debnam, handles the youngest piglets.

She's also responsible for making new piglets.

JENNIFER DEBNAM: This is one dose of boar semen.

We get it from a boar stud in Pennsylvania.

I also have a boar up here in front.

He will keep her attention and keep her stimulated.

[pigs squealing] So we apply a little back pressure like there'd be a boar standing on her.

That's one breeding.

We'll do this again tomorrow.

JOANNE: Forget the romance and a roll in the mud.

This gets the job done.

116 days later, like clockwork, the sow moves to the maternity ward, called a farrowing barn.

The average litter size is 11, but she might give birth to as many as 20 piglets.

Sows have only 12 teats, so what's the mother to do?

JENNIFER: We can uh, foster or rearrange the litters a little bit.

So if... [laughs] I got warm all of a sudden.

JOANNE: Back in the adult barn, the circle of life continues.

Plenty of sleep.

They like to be close.

Automatic clean water, and the waste drops below the floor.

Their food, however, is limited.

An electronic chip implanted in the pig operates this computerized feed stall, which rations their food.

Otherwise, they'd overeat like, you know, pigs.

And there goes Pat again, back on the road to advocate for agriculture.

PAT: I'm going to Columbus, Ohio, for a nationwide board council meeting.

[roar of plane engines] JOANNE: Pat leaves knowing the hog operation is in capable hands.

Daughter Kristen Nickerson, who is actually a CPA, handles the next phase: raising or finishing the pigs for sale.

KRISTEN NICKERSON: Uh this building, which is our wean-to-finish building, holds 2,400 heads.

There's 10 rooms of 240 pigs each.

They're very friendly and inquisitive.

They're feeling everything with their nose.

JOANNE: To feed these little fellas, the Langenfelders grow much of their own feed.

That's where Dutch and son Bill come in.

DUTCH LANGENFELDER: There's no better way to raise your kids than on a farm, so they get the experiences.

They get to see uh, newborns, calves, pigs, whatever.

JOANNE: He, too, is proud of his wife's advocacy work on behalf of farmers.

He's been called the First Husband, but doesn't mind.

DUTCH: I get to go to a lot of dinners, and I'm not the one that has to speak.

So she has to speak.

And when she goes to the American Farm Bureau, I get to pal around with the 49 other presidents'... spouses, who are all women.

JOANNE: Pat and her kids are proud of their pigs, over 3,000 here at any one time.

As for the quality, ask Dwayne, the local butcher in nearby Sudlersville.

DWAYNE NICKERSON: I'm very particular on the products that we sell.

The Langenfelders have an exceptional quality of pork.

JOANNE: The next generation is already working the farm, alongside parents and grandparents: a proud farm family and proud consumers of pork.

JENNIFER: My favorite kind of pork dish is probably um, just a whole pig on a... grill.

GRANDSON: Ham sandwich.

DUTCH: Baby back ribs.

KRISTEN: Pulled pork.

PAT: Just a plain old pork chop [chuckles].

Well, we have seven grandchildren, and they range in age from eighteen to eight, and they all are involved in some aspect of the farm operation.

All of them express a desire to be a farmer.

So of course, you never know.

That may change as life goes on.

But currently, it looks like we're going to have a seventh generation of the Langenfelder family interested in farming.

JOANNE: Langerfelder Farms continues to be an anchor in the farming community of Kent County.

Although Pat is no longer an active member of the Maryland Farm Bureau, she still keeps busy serving local conservation groups and the zoning task force.

While politics play a lesser role, Langenfelder's pork products remain the priority.

This is truly a family farm.

And with those seven grandchildren now 10 years older and taking on more responsibility, Pat can rest assured that a seventh generation of Langenfelders will keep it all going.

And did you know there were 72.2 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms?

Maryland has relatively few in comparison, with only 22,000 pigs mucking it up on local farms.

Coming up, Al Spoler visits an orchard that's in a hard place.

But before we go to Al, apple orchards are ubiquitous with the fall harvest, and squeezing that deliciousness into cider is a tradition in Maryland, both then and now.

♪♪ For much of its history, apple cider was an alcoholic drink made from fermented apples, similar to what we call hard cider today.

Roman explorers introduced cider to the world after they sailed to the British Isles in 55 BC and discovered the locals drinking a cider-like beverage.

Before long, cider spread across the Roman Empire.

European colonists brought cider to the Americas in the early 1600's.

Although they didn't understand bacteria, they knew that drinking water could be dangerous, and alcoholic beverages provided a safer alternative.

The preferred choice was beer, but barley was difficult to grow in the New England soil.

Apple trees, on the other hand, grew well.

Cider production continued to spread through the 1800's, helped by John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, who planted apple trees across the growing country.

But in 1920, prohibition brought hard-cider production to a halt.

While many orchards closed down, others chose to grow new, sweeter apples meant for eating.

This influx of sweet apples, combined with improvements in pasteurization and refrigeration, helped popularize non-alcoholic apple cider in the second half of the 20th century.

But today, hard cider is making a comeback, thanks to a growing interest in locally produced alcoholic beverages.

Here in Maryland, there are more than five craft cideries in operation.

So whether it's hard or sweet, apple cider is an American tradition that continues to grow.

Today's Maryland craft cider has come a long way in recent years.

On this week's The Local Buy, Al Spoler finds which apples are best to use the hard way.

Al?

♪♪ AL SPOLER: Every year when the leaves start to fall, I find myself thinking about frosty mornings, pumpkins, and apple ciders.

Well, lucky for us here in Maryland, we make some pretty good apple cider, which is why we're here at Distillery Lane Ciderworks in Frederick County to sample some of the very best.

Rob Miller and his family moved to this historic farm back in 2000 and started planting apple trees.

ROB MILLER: Then of course, we've been adding them over the years.

We take things out and add new ones.

AL: Today, Rob has over 3,000 trees and over 40 varieties.

ROB: About a third of them are sort of older heritage varieties.

Like, in the row next to us is Roxbury Russet, the oldest apple thought to originate in America.

We grow the hard cider apples, which are largely inedible, but they make a wonderful cider because they're either very tannic or acidic.

And then we grow about a third of the apples are these apples that are for eating out of hand or for baking.

AL: While the apples may vary, the actual process of making cider has been the same for centuries.

ROB: The first step is we bring the apples in from the cooler, dump them onto a sorting table, where we check and see if there's anything that's not quite up to par.

AL: Oh, there's a perfect one.

WORKER: Yeah, you can keep it.

[Laughs] AL: Perfect apples make perfect cider.

Once checked, they run through a washer... and then onto an elevator to a grinder.

ROB: So it turns the apples instantly into sort of an applesauce consistency.

AL: From there, the newly formed apple pulp is pumped through this hose to the hydraulic press, where the apple pumice is spread into wooden forms.

And yes, it's a rather juicy job.

Once filled, they're wrapped in cloth, which will strain the juice from the pulp.

ROB: So we press about 15, 16 bushels of apples at a time.

It takes about 20 minutes.

And out of that, we'll get about 50 gallons of cider.

[dripping] AL: Today we're making hard cider, so the raw juice is pumped into these vats, where cider-maker Tim Rose will work some fermentation magic.

TIM ROSE: So this will wake up the yeast, and in about an hour when it's cooled down, we'll see a lot of foaming action.

AL: The length of the fermenting process depends on the type of hard cider being produced and how it's stored.

Oh, wow!

Look at these barrels.

What do you have aging here?

TIM ROSE: In one of these Sagamore rye whiskey barrels, we put some very nice cider.

AL: To make Distillery Lane's Rio sparkling cider, Tim uses rye whiskey barrels to age the cider, mixing the tart apples with the honey tones of whiskey.

This smells very fresh, and I'm getting a little, what I think is caramel.

TIM ROSE: Typically, vanilla.

AL: That's it.

TIM: Yeah.

AL: Yes, yes.

Will there be a little of a sparkle in this eventually?

TIM: We will carbonate this.

Yeah, we will indeed.

So this will be a beautiful, sparkling, off-dry Rio cider.

AL: A lot of ways to enjoy that, I'll tell you.

And of course, one way is in Distillery Lane's tasting room for a sample of the final product.

Tim, I'm really happy to have this tasting that you've set up for me.

What do you want me to try today?

TIM: I want you to try our La Mela Della Notte, the night apple.

It is our pommeau.

AL: And a pommeau is a barely fermented cider with some distilled cider put in?

TIM: With spirits, yes, spirits made from distilled hard cider.

AL: How about that?

TIM: It's um wonderfully sweet, beautifully aromatic, a little bit strong.

AL: That's okay.

TIM: And it's meant for drinking after dinner.

There you go.

AL: I've heard so much about this.

I really am eager to try it.

TIM: So this has lived in a used bourbon barrel for a year after we blend it.

AL: Cheers.

[glasses clink] Mm.

Oh my goodness.

That is unbelievable.

TIM: Delightful, isn't it?

AL: It's really good.

It's really good.

It's very serious cider.

TIM: Thanks.

It is wonderful.

AL: Tim, what else do you have here?

TIM: This is our Kingston Black Sparkling.

It's dry.

The second one is our Witch's Brew.

The third one is our distilled cider.

And then on the end is our Kingston Black Barrel Aged.

AL: Oh, this is great.

We'd like to put some information about your Ciderworks on our website, so people can try it.

Go to mpt.org/farm and we'll have it there for you.

Thank you.

And for The Local Buy, I'm Al Spoler.

Joanne?

JOANNE: Thanks, Al.

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

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

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

Now, hold on, we're not done yet.

Remember our thingamajig?

Did you guess it?

Our hint was that it's found on most old farm stands, but it's not to crush tin cans.

This is an asparagus buncher.

Stalks of asparagus were placed in here, and it was squeezed closed to bunch the asparagus.

Then you could tie the bunch, making it ready for sale at the farm stand.

Congratulations if you got it right.

Join us 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.

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... ♪ ♪