Maryland
‘Maryland Farm & Harvest’ airs special 10th anniversary episode Tuesday night on MPT – WTOP News
For a decade, “Maryland Farm & Harvest” has been a staple of Maryland Public Tv. On Tuesday, it airs a particular tenth anniversary episode for its season finale at 7 p.m. on MPT.
WTOP’s Jason Fraley salutes 10 years of ‘Maryland Farm & Harvest’ (Half 1)
For a decade, “Maryland Farm & Harvest” has been a staple of Maryland Public Tv.
On Tuesday, it airs a particular tenth anniversary episode for its season finale at 7 p.m. on MPT.
“It truly is about paying tribute to not solely the farmers and our farming neighborhood however to the oldsters right here at MPT who’ve introduced this sequence to viewers over the previous decade,” Collection Producer Robert Farrier advised WTOP. “Host Joanne [Clendining], Al Spoler and previous present producers get collectively to speak about their favourite moments. … A stroll down reminiscence lane.”
A decade in the past, the Maryland Division of Agriculture approached the present’s creator Michael English about creating a brand new nonfiction sequence that will highlight native farmers.
“At first, nobody actually knew how the present would go,” Farrier mentioned. “Individuals had been like, ‘Are folks actually going to seek out corn rising attention-grabbing?’ However I believe the present’s creator and early producers realized that it’s not in regards to the crops … it’s in regards to the lives, it’s about telling the tales of the people who find themselves doing this — and that’s what resonated with viewers.”
Greater than 15 million viewers have watched the 127 episodes since its fall 2013 debut.
“If this sequence does something in any respect, it’s to make folks conscious of the place their meals comes from,” Farrier mentioned. “Once they drive previous these bucolic farm fields, amber waves of grain, if you’ll, lots of people do not know what goes on the opposite aspect of that area. This present pulls again the curtain on the world of agriculture and lets folks in on these hardworking folks.”
Certainly, it’s backbreaking work beginning properly earlier than daybreak and lasting properly after nightfall.
“I’m a tv producer; I might by no means be a farmer, are you kidding me?” Farrier mentioned. “They’re the toughest working folks, devoted 24/7, 12 months a 12 months. They by no means cease as a result of the work doesn’t cease. I simply have mad respect for these people and something I can do to show a highlight on them and permit their tales on the market … it’s simply an honor for me to try this.”
The sequence has visited over 400 farms, fisheries, wineries and different agriculture-related areas throughout its 10 seasons, overlaying all 23 Maryland counties plus Baltimore and D.C.
“It’s necessary to provide viewers a cross-section of the state,” Farrier mentioned. “We’ve completed 118 tales on the Jap Shore, over 50 in Western Maryland, the identical in Southern Maryland. … 14 tales in Prince George’s County, 21 tales in Montgomery County … Our bread basket — Washington, Frederick, Carroll counties — you possibly can’t throw a stone and never hit a farm.”
WTOP’s Jason Fraley salutes 10 years of ‘Maryland Farm & Harvest’ (Half 2)
Hearken to our full dialog right here.