We had perfect weather for Agriculture Day which was good since we were outside pretty much the entire day. The day started off with one of our classmates and Agriculture Specialist for the County’s Office of Economic Development, Colby Ferguson, providing us with an overview of Agriculture in Frederick County. Below are two videos of Colby providing the overview and talking about buying your food locally. If you have ever watched Food Inc., you will really find the video about shopping locally very interesting.
Once Colby finished up, it was time to get on the bus and head out to our first farm. We went to Rocky Point Farm which is in Tuscarora, MD and is owned by Chuck Fry. Rocky Point Farm has always been a dairy farm and also use to be a turkey farm as well. His farm sits on 1,100 acres of land and has approximately 400 holstein cows. It’s a great family farm with a rich past and promising future.
From Rocky Point Farm, we went to Thanksgiving Farms and Orchard in Adamstown. I had been here before because I love to buy my herbs here, but really didn’t realize how big it was until we took a walking tour of the orchards and fields. They discussed their CSA program with us. They are still taking members until May 31, so contact them ASAP if interested.
It was lunchtime so we boarded the bus again for our next destination. This time it was Gaver Tree Farm and Pumpkin Patch in Mt. Airy. Just like Rocky Point and Thanksgiving Farms, this is a family run farm. We had a wonderful lunch, followed by a hayride around the farm. It was very interesting to learn more about agri-tourism that many farms have adopted to meet consumer demand and increase profits.
Next up was Paradise Horse Stables. What an amazing facility for boarding, lessons and training. Liz Winters had a vision of what she wanted for the stables and made that come true. She is very support of 4-H and does what she can to support riders of all ages.
The last stop of the day was Berrywine Plantations-Linganore Winecellers. We took a tour of the operations with Jack Aellen and heard the history of how they came to be. From hobby to family-business. Of course, no visit to a winery would be complete without a wine tasting. We sampled many of the different wines before getting back on the bus to head home
Overall, it was a great day full of information. All the farms we visited were family run and provide quality products to Frederick County and Maryland. Remember to get out there and support our local farms as much as you can. You will get a better product and support some great families.
