Maryland Public Television’s popular original series Maryland Farm & Harvest, now in its 13th season, will feature farms and locations in Caroline, Carroll, Howard, and Kent counties during an episode premiering on Tuesday, March 24. An episode preview is available on the series’ webpage at mpt.org/farm.
Maryland Farm & Harvest airs on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on MPT and online at mpt.org/livestream. Episodes are also available to view live and on demand using the free PBS app and MPT’s online video player.
The popular 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.
Joanne Clendining, who has earned three Emmy® awards from the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for her work on Maryland Farm & Harvest, serves as series host. She is joined by Al Spoler, host of “The Local Buy” segments, and by a variety of local chefs who serve as guest hosts of the series’ “Farm to Skillet” segments.
With introductions filmed at Liberty Delight Farms in Reisterstown (Baltimore County), the March 24 episode features the following stories:
• Maryland Food Center Authority (Caroline and Howard counties): As the sun sets over Bartenfelder Farms in Preston, trucks are loaded with the day’s harvest and sent to the Maryland Food Center Authority, a 400-acre complex in Jessup that operates as a central hub for food distribution throughout the Baltimore-Washington metro area. There, distributors such as Edward G. Rahll & Sons act as a vital link between producers such as Bartenfelder and retailers. The facility operates primarily at night and in the early morning to ensure produce is sorted, inspected, and delivered to grocery stores and restaurants before business hours.
• Manchester Mushroom Farm (Carroll County): From raising chickens to growing fruit trees to beekeeping, Ian Davis and Caitlyn Bernal have undergone several business pivots to survive on their family’s small farm in Manchester. Aided by friend and mentor Walker Santos, they transitioned their primary focus to growing mushrooms in 2025, and business is booming. Manchester Mushroom Farm now sells a variety of mushrooms – as well as fresh honey, eggs, and fruit – at local farmers markets throughout the state.
• The Local Buy: Red Acres Hydroponics (Kent County): For nearly 150 years, the Williams family has been tending the land at Red Acres Farm in Worton. To remain competitive and survive as a small, family-run operation, fifth-generation caretaker Bryan Williams has transitioned the historic farm to hydroponics, while his daughter, Rachel Williams Nolan, has repurposed old barns into an events space. Segment host Al Spoler visits the farm for a first-hand look at the Williams’ latest transition from Holstein cows to hydroponics and hospitality.
More than 19 million viewers have watched Maryland Farm & Harvest on the statewide public TV network since its debut in 2013. The series has traveled to more than 500 farms, fisheries, and other agriculture-related locations during its first 12 seasons, covering every Maryland county, as well as Baltimore City and Washington, D.C.
Encore broadcasts of Maryland Farm & Harvest air on MPT on Thursdays at 11 p.m. and on Sundays at 6 a.m. Episodes also air on MPT2/Create® on Fridays at 7:30 p.m. Past episodes can be viewed on the PBS app and MPT’s online video player, while episode segments are available on the series’ YouTube channel at youtube.com/@
Audiences are invited to engage with the series 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, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Fund; MARBIDCO; a grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program; Farm Credit; Maryland Soybean Board and Soybean Checkoff Program; Maryland Nursery, Landscape & Greenhouse Association; Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts; Maryland Farm Bureau, Inc., The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; Maryland Agriculture Education Foundation; and Maryland Pork Producers Association.
More information is available at mpt.org.
