Mo-Co Alliance
  • Home
  • About Us
    • What We Do
    • A Brief History
    • Board & AC
    • Staff & Volunteers
    • Contact
    • Buy MCA Gear
  • About Ag Reserve
    • Growing Legacy Film
    • History of the Ag Reserve
    • Benefits of the Ag Reserve
    • Agriculture Education
    • Farm Facts
    • Threats to the Ag Reserve
    • A Place with Purpose
  • News
  • Events
    • Local Events
    • Royce Hanson Award
    • Ride for Reserve
  • Support Local
    • Agricultural Guide
    • Local Food Connection
    • Good Fences Grant
    • Community Supported Agriculture
    • Restaurants & Retail
    • Artists of the Reserve
  • Community Resources
    • Land Link >
      • Labor Link
    • Re-leaf the Reserve
    • PLENTY Magazine
    • Producer's Resources
    • BIPOC Farmer Guide
    • Directory of Local Services
    • Friends of Ten Mile Creek
  • Membership
    • Sponsors and Partners

News

Take Action: Follow the Science - No pavement increase in Ten Mile Creek Watershed

12/31/2022

 
Picture
Success! This ZTA was withdrawn! Thanks to everyone who took action. Your voice made a difference! Be sure to follow along with our friends at Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir as they continue to steward our water resources. 
Our partners at Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir need your action - please take two minutes to support their action alert - and clean water for all. 
On January 17, 2023, the Montgomery County Council will hold a hearing on a Zoning Text Amendment,  ZTA 22-12, that would exempt the impervious surfaces of master-planned bikeways from being counted toward the impervious limits that protect the Ten Mile Creek watershed (that's the fragile back up water supply for 4.3 million).

The 2014 Clarksburg master plan was written specifically with strict, science based limits on paved surfaces in this watershed to protect water quality. This proposed ZTA conflicts directly with this master plan.

This is not a bike path vs. clean water choice. We can have both. But the science is clear. The proposed housing and other land developments in Ten Mile Creek, in combination with the bike paths and all other forms of hard surfaces, need to conform to limits previously established by Montgomery County. Any proposed weakening of these protective limits should be rejected.

Take two minutes to take action here. 

Rally to Re-Open White's Ferry - Now Action

12/31/2022

 
Picture
Hundreds showed up in the final days of 2022 to rally for White's Ferry to re-open - 2 years after it closed. Rally organizers estimate that 9 million extra miles have been driven as the result of the ferry's extended closure. 

Good noise made. Now… action.

This centuries old and much relied upon transportation corridor must be reopened to the public. Maryland should explore legal options. There was long term, open use of the VA side landing… establishing a public right of way to a public road.

Press: 
Rally Organizers Guest Column in Montgomery Perspective
MyMC Media
Loudoun Now
​WaPo Cover's last year's anniversary of the closure

Forever Chemicals (PFAS) in the Reserve’s Drinking Water Aquifer

12/27/2022

 
 Two wells in Poolesville have tested positive for PFAS - often called forever chemicals because they never break down in the environment. This group of around 5000 different man-made compounds created for foams and non-stick coatings among other purposes have been linked to health issues. Pesticides known to contain PFAS that the EPA has failed to regulate are are one way that the compounds end up in the soil, plants and water supply according to our friends at PEER (Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility).

Poolesville has released a letter to every resident and this press release. 


The Reserve is particularly at risk of this kind of contamination of drinking water as it sits atop the federally designated Piedmont Sole Source Aquifer - the only source of drinking water for local wells in the western Reserve - outside the WSSC envelope by design. (How does a well work?) 

Collaboration (State, County, towns, groups) and tenacity will be needed to address the important issue. The Town will hold an information session on January 3rd at 7pm

In the meantime - here is the EPA list of actionable steps and resources to better understand PFAS.

​

WUSA video coverage below and transcript
Since 2001, MCA has been the organization devoted to protection of the Region's farms and water resources. We are committed to work with decision makers at all levels and local residents to secure water resources. Collaboration and tenacity are required here and that is what we bring. Your support helps us connect resources to deal with this threat. We'd be honored by your tax-deductible donation. 
Picture

A Year of Land Links

12/22/2022

 
Picture
A volunteer helps out at the AfriThrive farm in Poolesville - with crops headed to a free mobile pantry
Here at MCA, the short, short version of our mission is "We Connect." We connect farmers both new and established with plenty of resources but our expensive region access to land is a real stumbling block for new or expanding farmers. 
In 2011 we responded to this need with a new program - Land Link Montgomery. Since then 30+ farmers have been matched with leases to grow everything from flower and herbs to persimmons to tomatoes and peppers, nightshade and kiwano melon and even cattle and sheep. 

In 2022 we matched 6 farmers - here are a few of their stories. 
  • AfriThrive found acreage in Poolesville to grow culturally appropriate crops for their free mobile pantries. 
  • Cut Clover Flowers moved from urban plots to the established operation at Hidden Ridge Flowers in Clarksburg to find both land and mentoring from a veteran grower. 
  • San Giovanni's Farm of Howard County will bring 6 years of Organic CSA experience to a property in Poolesville.
  • The Veterans behind Got Your 6 Farms were matched with small acreage this year but are looking to scale up even further after a successful season. (check out their listing on Land Link they are #7036) 
  • Two small scale growers - one a bareroot nut tree producer and one growing African vegetables were matched with small plots to get started. 
Picture
AfriThrive bags ready for pick-up at a mobile pantry site
Picture
San Giovanni's is bringing their organic operation to MoCo
Picture
Emma of Cut Clover Flowers with mentor Melane of Hidden Ridge Flowers and Herbs
We wish these fledgling farmers many happy seasons in MoCo - and we are here with resources to help them thrive. There are many more farmers still seeking land and your support helps us connect these farmers with the land and resources to get started. We would be honored by your tax-deductible end of year gift.
Picture

Robots and Regenerative Grazing - MoCo's Forward Looking Dairies

12/22/2022

 
As the year ends we are counting down the final 12 days till 2023 in the style of 12 days of Christmas. For the 8th day (8 Maids a milking) we are highlighting MoCo's dairies past and present. Here at MCA we dig in to protect MoCo's farms and farmland - we would be honored by your end of year support. 
Picture
Great looking pasture at Rock Hill Orchard
Brown Cow Creamery at Savage Acres creates delicious cheese from grassfed cows in Dickerson, Maryland (see their primer on the benefits of grassfed beef here.) They also offer flours from their corn and wheat along with beef, pork and eggs. The Savages have a closed loop system with a local distiller where their corn is used to make whiskey and the spent grain is then fed back to the cows. You can find their products online and also at the Poolesville Farmers Market. 
Picture
Rock Hill Orchard in Mt Airy is a pick-your-own and the site of Woodboune Creamery - the nations first all pasture raised robotic dairy. Having trouble picturing the laser guided nozzles and mobile linked updates of their dairy barn- this video will help. Since that video, the Fendricks of Rock Hill have added an ice cream parlor - the only Montgomery County stop on the MD Ice Cream Trail.  Though the gals are slowing down milk production for the winter products are available at the farm and Germantown pick ups. Learn More.
John Fenderick was kind enough to join our Farm Accessory Solar webinar to detail the system on his barn roof. Watch the recording here. 
Both of these farms are practicing rotational or intensive grazing - moving the cows regularly through multiple pastures.  Rock Hill details how this works. The result is healthier soils that are able to hold more water runoff - preventing erosion and improving water quality. A deep dive on this can be found at Maryland's Million Acre Challenge
 The King Barn Dairy Mooseum catalogs the history of MoCo's many, many dairies. Open May- October they feature interactive exhibits on the historic King Farm. An interactive map shows the sea of small dairies that used to operate throughout the County. 

A Year End Message From Our Board President, Lee Langstaff

12/22/2022

 
Picture
Rainbow chard grows at the AfriThrive Farm in Poolesville from seedlings provided by Common Root Farm of Derwood –  AfriThrive harvests are distributed at free mobile markets to address food insecurity in Montgomery County. AfriThrive was matched with farmland through our Land Link program. 
Dear Friend of the Ag Reserve, 

As the year closes, we thank you once again for your support of our efforts to protect the farmland, open spaces, natural resources, and historic assets of our nationally recognized Agricultural Reserve. Since 2001, MCA has emerged as a regional force that recognizes the critical role of local activity and engagement in support of global imperatives of protecting farmland and natural environmental services in the face of our changing climate. 

Close to home, the Ag Reserve is critical infrastructure for a resilient future:

  • Food insecurity is up 50% in Montgomery County and across the country since 2020. Each year our local farmers produce hundreds of tons of produce for local food banks, rounding out shelf-stable foods with fresh, healthy options for our food insecure neighbors. MCA is matching more of these producers with land through our Land Link program. Meet the farmers and landowners behind the matches. ​
  • Outdoor recreation opportunities in the Reserve became even more sought after by regional residents during the pandemic. MCA presses actively for the best stewardship of our County and State parkland, rural and rustic roads, and wildlife habitats.
  • In support of renewable energy, MCA led the effort on responsible siting of large scale solar power installations in the Reserve. While the solar industry and some Council members pushed to open all farm acreage to industrial solar fields, we arrived at a solution which best protects farms, forests, and water quality. At the same time, MCA is promoting regenerative agriculture practices that enrich soil, save water, and sequester carbon.
At MCA we say "We Protect What We Love." Together with supporters who love and understand the value of the Reserve, and embrace the power of grassroots organizations, we have achieved much:
  • Planted 5000 native trees to date through our Re-Leaf the Reserve Program. 
  • Connected a diverse group of new farmers to landowners with land to lease, increasing our food production including crops important to immigrant communities in our diverse county and region.
  • Helped secure full staffing for the County Office of Agriculture to better support the growing agricultural sector - particularly to provide expertise on meeting climate challenges.
With new faces at the Council and Planning Board, there are both opportunities and challenges ahead. MCA has spent over 20 years rolling up our sleeves and “digging in,” often in effective collaboration with partner groups. Elected officials, county staff, and civic leaders are increasingly aware of our well-informed and effective advocacy. When the discourse becomes antagonistic, MCA seeks to find the common and supportable way forward. We are a tenacious but collegial advocate for the region's critical resources.
​With your help in 2023 we will:
​
  • Continue to grow the next generation of farmers through our Land Link Program (MocoLandLink.org)
  • Collaborate to establish a farm incubator connecting new farmers with land and training to jumpstart diverse new farms and expand regenerative agricultural practices in the County.
  • Maintain vigilance to guard against unwise land use proposals, legislation, and regulatory changes and monitor the roll out of the recently approved Thrive 2050 plan.
  • Plant more acres of native “forever forests” and urge the new Council to adopt a strengthened Forest Conservation Plan for the whole County.
We appreciate and continue to need your support for our efforts to ensure the best possible stewardship of this special resource we all love. We invite you to join us as we keep our eyes on the prize and “dig in.” ​

Peace and good health to you and yours this holiday season,
Picture
Picture
Picture

Decision Tool for Group Farming

12/20/2022

 
Picture
Land for Good has done a webinar series to help folks better access this tool. Find the recording of the session for farm service providers here and the session for farmers here.
If you want to go far, go together....
MCA has been so proud to be invited to work with the FRSAN -NE (Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network) chapter as part of the new farmer/land access cohort - a project run by the National Young Farmers Coalition bringing farmers and farm service providers together to tackle some of the root causes of farmer stress.
Finding and maintaining land to farm is a constant stressor in a farming career. Toward the end of last year MCA staff partnered with farmers and farm service providers in the cohort to create a decision tool to help new farmers consider different ways of accessing land besides just the typical rent/buy dichotomy. The cohort was particularly interested in sharing newer solutions for group farm tenure that are becoming more common like farm incubators or land trusts. Pooling your resources with like minded farmers can help you get farming faster. 
Land for Good is the clearing house for the new toolkit, just one in a treasure trove of resources they offer to farmers and landowners seeking to access and secure land. 
We'd love to hear your experiences with this tool - kristina@mocoalliance.org 

Check out the tool here
Interested in Land access? - Check out our Land Link program where we connect local farmers and landowners. 

A First Step Toward a Potomac Water Supply Backup

12/8/2022

 
Michael Nardolilli, executive director of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, told WTOP the water supply is vulnerable: “We do run the risk of the Potomac River becoming unavailable due to, say, an extreme drought caused by climate change, or a contamination event that could be either accidental or intentional.”
Picture

WTOP is reporting that the Water Resources Development Act of 2022, or WRDA, would authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct studies to find a secondary drinking water source and additional drinking water storage. This bill is up for approval in the next two weeks. 
Local water officials have been studying the use of the Travilah Quarry. However it is likely that even more capacity will need to be found to meet demand as drought threatens supply. 
WTOP Coverage
You May Also Like:
  • Regional Water Protection, Now More Than Ever​
  • Friends of Ten Mile Creek
  • Maryland Farm Loss Through Saltwater Intrusion
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Barnesville Oaks/Greentree
    Bike
    Climate Change
    CSA
    Development
    Education
    Energy
    Events
    Fun!
    Growing Legacy
    Land Link
    Local Food
    Master Plan Update
    Mega Church
    Montgomery Council
    News
    Open Space
    Outer Beltway
    Parks
    Planning
    Potomac Bridge
    Racial Justice
    Recent Accomplishments
    Recipes
    Reducing Waste
    Regenerative Ag
    Releaf
    Rocklands
    Rural Schools
    Sewer
    Solar
    Take Action Now
    Ten Mile Creek
    Thrive 2050
    Transporation
    Water

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    November 2010
    October 2010

ABOUT US
What We Do
A Brief History
Board & AC
Staff & Volunteers
Contact
​​Buy MCA Gear
ABOUT Ag RESERVE
History of the Ag
Benefits of the Ag
Farm Facts
Threats to the Ag
​A Place with Purpose
NEWS
EVENTS
Local Events
Ride for the Reserve
Royce Hanson Award
SUPPORT LOCAL
Ag Guide
Local Food Connection
Community Supported Agriculture
Restaurants & Retail
​Artists of the Reserve
COMMUNITY RESOURCES
​Land Link
Producer's Resources
Directory of Services
Picture
Montgomery Countryside Alliance
P.O Box 24, Poolesville, MD  20837
301-461-9831  •  ​info@mocoalliance.org
Picture
Picture
Picture

Picture
MCA is proud to announce that we have been recognized for a third time as one of the best small charities in the D.C. region by Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. A panel of 110 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated 270 applications.

​MCA is known as an effective and innovative non-profit whose efforts to preserve and promote Montgomery County’s nationally recognized 93,000 acre Ag Reserve have brought increased public and governmental support of local food production and farmland and open space preservation. Most importantly, MCA’s efforts are putting more farmers on the ground and keeping them there.
COPYRIGHT © MONTGOMERY COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE 2008