NEWS

"MARYLAND FARM & HARVEST" WILL BE FEATURING BAUGHER'S ORCHARD, BLADES ORCHARD, AND CREATING A NEW APPLE VARIETY. THE EPISODE WILL AIR ON MPT FEBRUARY 4 AT 7 PM.

Maryland Farm & Harvest takes viewers on journeys across the state, telling stories about the farms, people, and technology required to sustain and grow Maryland’s number one commercial industry: agriculture. Maryland Public Television's (MPT) production team filmed episode segments at more than four dozen farms in preparation for the current season.

With introductions filmed at Baugher’s Orchard & Farm in Westminster in Carroll County, Maryland Farm & Harvest’s February 4 season finale features the following segments you might be interested in:

• Creating a New Apple Variety (Washington County) Maryland orchards grow a lot of apples, but some varieties don’t do well in the state’s warmer, humid climate. One professor at the University of Maryland has been on a decades-long quest to breed a new apple specifically for Maryland growers.  After planting more than 5,000 different trees at the University of Maryland's Western Maryland Research & Education Center in Keedysville, Dr. Chris Walsh and his team have narrowed down their choices to a handful of varieties. Viewers learn why hopes are high as the new “Antietam Blush” apple – named after the Civil War battlefield near its birthplace – hits the market.
   

• The Local Buy: Cider Donuts (Caroline County) Segment Host Al Spoler takes a trip to Blades Orchard in Federalsburg, where Lynda and Stephen Blades teach him and viewers about the apple varieties that go into making great apple cider. Then, Lynda treats Al to her delicious cider donuts made using apples from the family’s 60-acre farm. A recipe for cider donuts will be available at mpt.org/farm.

For more information about the MPT television series go to