​As the year draws to a close, we at Montgomery Countryside Alliance give heartfelt thanks to our members and supporters. No question- we could not do it without you. A quick note to share the top 4 reasons to support MCA before the end of the year:
 
1. Education – creating the next generation of farm stewards: In a county where 1/3 of its land is preserved for agriculture, Montgomery County has no formal agricultural curriculum. MCA is helping to fill the gap. Over the next 5 years, every single MCPS elementary student is getting hands-on, curriculum enhancing Ag activities aboard a mobile Ag Science Lab – with funding secured through a partnership between MCA and the MoCo Farm Bureau.  Now entering its 4th year, our high school program now reaches 4 schools with farmer visits and field trips to local farms. Farming touches on all subjects – it’s a career day, civics lesson and master class in entrepreneurship all in one.
 
2. Growing Farms = Growing Economy: The success of local farming is the success of the Reserve. That’s why we have matched more than 20 new and expanding farmers with long term leases on more than 400 acres through our Land Link Montgomery program. Land is one hurdle but training and access to markets is another. With additional resources we will advance the New Farmer Program aimed toward growing the County’s next generation farmers. We are also serving on the Montgomery County Planning Department’s agritourism working group focused on increasing farm profitability.
 
3. Connecting people to place
“Wait, what is the Ag Reserve?” We hear that a lot.  It’s a problem. So, we’ve created a number of annual events (Field and Fiddle, the Royce Hanson Award Celebration, Ride for the Reserve, screenings of our “Growing Legacy” film) bringing in a record number of residents out to explore the Reserve and understand its purpose, along with a revised Ag Guide and online interactive map to help them find the best local food, history and recreation opportunities.
 
4. Protecting Land and Water
A shocking fact for those who rely on water – the DC regional comprehensive water plan expired over a decade ago. MCA is on the front lines with partner groups to push for a new plan for our most precious resource as the climate changes and higher demands are put on current systems. We are also partnering with allies across the river to once again battle back plans for a Potomac Bridge crossing and outer beltway that would bisect the Reserve.  This time around the interests behind this boondoggle are even better funded and more influential– but it’s an objective fact – there are far better transportation solutions that address congestion while preserving quality of life and tax payer dollars.  

​We are pleased to share that the American Planning Association awarded the 2017 Planning Landmark Award for Montgomery County’s courageous commitment to agriculture in founding the Reserve almost 40 years ago. And with your support MCA will continue to tenaciously meet the challenges, build a greater base of consumer and advocacy support and grow our local farm economy.  Your gift works through all seasons to protect farms, water and open space right here in Montgomery County.

Enjoy the second annual Ag Reserve Calendar with photos from the many farms and open spaces that make up the Reserve. Ready to ship on December 18 with your gift of $100 or more with the donate button below or a new automatic monthly  sustainer donation in any amount. Makes a great gift!

Super Moon at Montevideo ~ Martin Radigan
A year in images from Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve from your friends at Montgomery Countryside Alliance

We are pleased to share that the American Planning Association awarded the 2017 Planning Landmark Award for Montgomery County’s courageous commitment to agriculture in founding the Reserve almost 40 years ago. And with your support MCA will continue to tenaciously meet the challenges, build a greater base of consumer and advocacy support and grow our local farm economy. ​

Learn more about just how amazing the Reserve is. 

4 Reasons to Support MCA in our work to protect the Reserve. 

Despite collective effort - We were unsuccessful. The loss was and remains painful. ​

​Since that decision, we have ramped up efforts to educate decision makers and the public on the plan and purpose of the Reserve and to grow our farm economy. As we toured the Planning Chair in 2014 she acknowledged the error of the board's decision... too late for this magnificent farm but nonetheless, progress. Our petition for reconsideration

Being a non-profit charged with protecting this special place - we press on. In this giving season, we are grateful for your support. 

Warm Regards,
Caroline Taylor
​Executive Director, MCA

​MCA is partnering with Sierra Club and other partner groups to host a panel discussion addressing water preservation and planning in Montgomery County on December 3, 3-5pm in the MC Executive Office Building Auditorium/Cafeteria in Rockville. 


The panel will:

• Begin a conversation about the impacts of development and stormwater runoff on the public water supply;
• Address how we can make growth smart enough to protect the public water supply;
• Consider proactive strategies to protect and restore watersheds upstream from area water intakes that are within the purview of Montgomery County; and
• Discuss implications for costs of water treatment and future water rates.

Scott Fosler (MCA Board member) is the keynote speaker – Scott is the current mayor of Chevy Chase and, among other achievements, is a past member and president of the County Council, when he was instrumental in the plan for the Little Seneca Reservoir as part of a two-reservoir emergency backup water supply for the National Capital Region. The plan, which was developed in response to a major drought that occurred in the 1960s, and as an alternative to a plan by the US Army Corps of Engineers for 16 reservoirs, resulted in the 1982 Water Supply Coordination Agreement among area utilities and the ICPRB, which remains in effect. The panel will be moderated by Caroline Taylor, executive director of Montgomery Countryside Alliance. We are also inviting representatives from WSSC and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin to join us on the panel.

Candidates for Montgomery County Council have been invited to provide comment on their plan for meeting the challenge of water resource protection.

Read up on our coverage of water resources "Protecting Regional Water Resources, Now more than Ever"

Having finished a schedule thick with wonderful events in September and October including Farm to Fork, Ride for the Reserve, and the 2017 Royce Hanson Award​, we thought we might have a little down time for some administrivia. No such thing! 

Land Use Planning – Transportation: A forward thinking resolution
 
We added our voice and effort in support of a sound County Council Resolution ensuring that upcounty land use planning maintains balance with current and approved transportation infrastructure. First rule: When in a hole, stop digging.  Happy to report that the resolution passed 7-2. ​Hats off to the TAME Coalition and County Councilmembers for getting this done.

Greg and Anna Glenn
Rocklands Farm Winery & Market
14525 Montevideo Road
Poolesville, Maryland  20842
  
 
No time to travel to Napa Valley?…No worries!!
 
The next time your palate craves the taste of a new fine wine, just jump in your car and head to the Ag Reserve!  In fact, when you visit Rocklands Farm on Montevideo Road – just outside of Poolesville – you can treat your taste buds to some excellent wines and, at the same time, enjoy a drive through one of the more scenic parts of Montgomery County.  You can also shop at their on-farm market for grass-fed beef and lamb, pasture-raised pork, chicken and eggs, along with a variety of other farm products. 
 
When you arrive at the farm, there’s a good chance you will meet the business owners – Greg and Anna Glenn.  Greg and Anna are two of the most innovative farmers you will ever meet.  Greg, who started farming in the Ag Reserve in 2010, has transformed the business into a diversified agricultural operation with a strong focus on environmentally sound approaches to working the land.  They currently manage almost 100 acres, including 34 acres on their home farm along with other rented property.  They produce their own wines on the farm from grapes grown in their 6.5-acre vineyard. 
 
Greg, who studied Agriculture and Applied Economics at Virginia Tech University, is certainly putting his education to good use.  Anna holds a degree in Education from California Polytechnic University, so it’s easy to understand why she and Greg share a passion for reaching out to our younger generation through several educational programs focused on agriculture.  Greg said that he chose a career in farming because he “was inspired to know, and then provide to others, a connection with who, how and where food comes from.”  Greg and Anna have three young sons – Fritz, Simeon and Charlie – who will, no doubt, receive plenty of on-the-job training in agriculture in the coming years.

​What a beautiful celebration of the enduring and growing legacy of the Scott family, multigenerational farmers who have secured their acreage in perpetual preservation. In accepting the Royce Hanson Award on behalf of his family, David Scott Jr. noted the need to work together to ensure that we meet the challenges that face the Reserve. The strength of family farms was underscored by MCA President Gene Kingsbury, who shared the moving moment when his mother realized that Gene would continue the legacy of their family orchard, not out of a sense of obligation but because of a deep and abiding affection for the land and the craft. The joyful knowledge came through reading Gene's Mother's Day gift,  his poem which she found waiting for her upon her return home from mowing that day:

The 2017 Volunteer of the year award was presented by MCA's Event and Volunteer Coordinator, Ellen Letourneau to Van Mertz and his merry band of folksters for their generous and talented sound engineering for several years in making music come alive at MCA's events, notably Field & Fiddle.
​

See the presentation that preceded the award - including a clip of our film Ag Reserve film "Growing Legacy" in which Dave Scott Jr. stars. 

Back in 2015 MCA was proud to partner with the Montgomery County Farm Bureau on a passion dear to both organizations - connecting the next generation with education about the importance of farms and farm products.  The plans for this collaboration came out of our Farming at Metro's Edge Conference in 2013.  The education took the form of a big mobile laboratory, provided by Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation (MAEF), stuffed with hands-on exhibits and activities about the role of agriculture in the everyday lives of students, and a trained educator to walk kids through it.  

To date, the mobile labs have visited 51 Elementary Schools in Montgomery County and 31,500 students have walked through its doors. The lab will visit every Elementary School in Montgomery County by the end of 2019. For a hands-on science field trip - you can't beat one that brings the experience to the school property.

The lab experience is getting rave reviews from teachers and students: 

Generations of the Scott family have been farming in rural Montgomery County and protecting land under agricultural easement. We celebrate theirlong stewardship of the land. David Scott Jr. is a star in our "Growing Legacy" film, click below for two stories from him on what his wife thinks of his combine harvester and the day they lost a whole crop of soybeans. 

A few spices  and a bit of citrus - the only things necessary to add to Reserve grown food, flowers, views, talent and hospitality at Farm to Fork. It was a magical evening for a great cause and we at MCA are so thankful, not just for the support that came from the event, but the way that all the different pieces of our local community came together to make the event happen. It was the manifestation in edible, sippable, memorable form of the work MCA has been doing to strengthen and protect Montgomery County's working landscape. 

We'd like to thank all that attended in support of MCA and the Ag Reserve, particularly our hosts the Langstaff family. David Langstaff put the evening and the Reserve in a wider context in his  excellent remarks):

Fall is a colorful time both on the trees and around the table - but for all the oranges and reds the dominant color at your farmers market is similar to what you'll find in early spring - green. 

As the weather chills, kale, spinach, chard (above) and other greens find relief from the heat of summer and grow well. Our friends at Plow and Stars Farm run a year round CSA and have shared a guide to greens along with a pinterest page full of local food recipes for year-round enjoyment. Just don't click over there on an empty stomach. 

Apple picking weather is also here. You can find great local orchards where you can make a day of picking your favorite variety.  Pick a few extra and make a freezer full of applesauce to last you till spring - all in your crock pot! Your house will smell like fall all day. 

The Ag Reserve is preserved as a working landscape to benefit the entire region in a number of practical ways. The food it makes is meant to nourish people, the landscapes protected to filter the water and air. That being said - it is gorgeous. The beauty of both the land and the food that comes from it will be on display in two gallery shows this fall. 

Countryside Artisans Farm to Gallery
​Black Rock Center for the Arts
Sept. 16 - October 28
Opening Reception on September 17 2-4pm
​This collection of rural Montgomery County artists has moved the Reserve to the gallery featuring pieces in textiles, fiber, stone, oils, watercolors, pastels, glass, wood, clay, stoneware, and porcelain. 
This show will be up during our Royce Hanson Award Ceremony at Black Rock on October 22 where we celebrate David Scott Jr. and his family. Stay tuned for details.

"Foodies" A Juried Photo Exhibit ~ September 16-October 22
Glen Echo Photoworks
Reception and Gallery Talk: September 15 7-9pm
Calling all Gastronomes! Photoworks Gallery announces FOODIES, our Fall 2017 Photography Exhibition. Juried by Debra Moser (VisArts, Edible DC), this exhibit will highlight the good, the bad and the tasty of our cultural obsession with eating as a hobby.

We are inviting our supporters to celebrate the Reserve with their palate at our first ever Farm to Fork benefit dinner on September 16. 

Currently, we are working with our chefs, Brian Patterson, of L'Academie de Cuisine and Mark Mills, Chocolates & Tomatoes Farm to source as much as possible solely from Agricultural Reserve Farmers for your meal and you may be lucky enough to have one of the featured farmers at your table.  Click over to see the menu. 

One of the evening's chefs, Mark Mills of Chocolates and Tomatoes Farm, is a graduate of the New Farm Pilot program in which MCA partnered with the County to train the next generation of Montgomery County's Farmers. Mark was a successful pastry chef until he decided to get closer to the ingredients. His exquisite confections now feature ingredients grown on land he has leased through our Land Link program. ​

Join us to find even more delicious local food connections and enjoy an amazing meal for a great cause. 

When the calendar turns to August we are on the downhill toward September. This is the time that thoughts turn to new school outfits and a return to routine. But wait! There is time left to have uniquely summer adventures and you don't have to get out of town to do so. Wonder is waiting out your back door in Montgomery County's Ag Reserve. 

Of course Ice Cream is first on the list. Your local scoop shop has nothing on Woodbourne Creamery in Mt. Airy. The farm is a  stop on the Maryland's Best Ice Cream trail. The farm boasts North America's first all robotic milking system for its pasture raised cows. Tour the creamery and grab a scoop of MoCo's finest ice cream! (they offer pick your own too, click Rock Hill Orchard below)

The Nation's River provides great recreation opportunities close by. Join an event with our friends Potomac Conservancy ​or Canoe Cruisers . We are working with Canoe Cruisers to find a solution to closures of 2 miles of river coast to coast while President Trump is golfing at his resort on the Virginia side. 

Join us for the first ever Farm to Fork dinner on September 16. Celebrate with purpose and help protect the Beauty, Bounty and History of Montgomery County's Agricultural Reserve, while mingling with the farmers whose livelihood depends on its preservation and enjoying the carefully grown fruits of their labors. A bountiful banquet of locally sourced vegetables, meat, baked goods, fruit & libations ~ masterfully orchestrated by chef Brian Patterson of L'Academie De Cuisine. The venue is gorgeous Shepherd's Hey Farm at the foot of Sugarloaf Mountain. 

This afternoon the Kojo Nnamdi show on WAMU took up the topic of the Potomac bridge project.  (click here to listen) In attendance were Bob Buchanan, a developer and member of the 2030 group, one of the main backers of the bridge and Stewart Schwartz from our partner organization Coalition for Smarter Growth. Stewart revealed the lunacy of this project point by point and highlighted the immense personal financial stake Mr. Buchanan and his development partners have in building the sprawl that would come from this boondoggle. 

Right out of the gate, Mr. Buchanan casually brushed aside concerns about the sprawl and detriment to established communities and again cited a poll that has been discredited in the media. The 2030 group had a polling firm call up 800 residents and ask them if the bridge is a good idea - no budget figure, no location - as you might imagine, most traffic weary residents said yes. Stewart Schwartz rightly called the poll's validity into question.  What followed in the time remaining was a chorus of listeners (one being MoCo Council President Berliner who called in) on both sides of the river calling this project into question for its negative impact on communities, water, habitat, agriculture and its efficacy as a traffic solution in the first place. Our friends across the River at Piedmont Environmental Council have prepared a great list of 8 myths used to sell this zombie project yet again.  For those wondering why this project is called the "zombie" bridge and why it gets re-animated so often, this is a great summary. 

The bridge segment today was cut a bit short so the show could properly honor dearly departed DC broadcaster Jim Vance. There is much more discussion to be had  and much, much more work to do. Join us won't you?

Read on for our favorite tweets and observations about the Kojo Show today: