Crop Hop – October 25, 2014 – a tour of southern MD farms

[mcfarton]

I signed up for the metric century. We will see how this turns out for me. I have never rode more than 44 miles.
Should be fun

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[Greenbelt]

Laurie and I rode part of the course a couple weeks ago. Very scenic.

[mcfarton]

I will be driving from Germantown if anyone wants a ride.
The silver lining for me is there is less climbing on this than 30 miles around here.

sent from your mom’s house

[Greenbelt]

http://www.crophop.com

The Crop Hop designed to highlight the connection between farms, fresh food and good health, with a portion of each registration donated to purchase fresh, healthy farm foods for the hunger community.
Prince George’s County will be co-hosting the third annual Crop Hop on October 25th, 2014.
The Crop Hop features four spectacular routes through gorgeous Prince George’s county, with rides ranging from the metric century 62 mile ride, to the family-friendly 6 mile Sprout Route. The event provides riders the opportunity to visit and learn from five farms some of which are not normally open to the public. All rides will start and end at historic Nottingham, where events for riders and non-riders alike will be taking place to commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Bladensburg of the War of 1812. Enjoyable, educational re-enactors will demonstrate the life of Joshua Barnes, archeologists will be on hand to discuss Nottingham’s historic significance, the one-room school house will be open for tours, and a picnic of locally raised food will be offered to all. As if that wasn’t special enough, the River Keeper at Nottingham has offered opportunities for canoeing and kayaking throughout the day along the beautiful Patuxent River.

Our hope is to bring 500 riders this year to Prince George’s County and raise funds to provide fresh farm foods to the hunger community in the county.

Register online at crophop.com
Farms participating in the 2014 Crop Hop include:

Romano Winery & Vineyard
15715 Bald Eagle School Road, Brandywine, MD 20613
Jo-Ann Romano, Owner
Founded by Joseph and Jo-Ann Romano, Romano Vineyard and Winery is located south of Washington, D.C., in the scenic rural tier of Prince George’s County, Maryland. The family is committed to producing small lots of handcrafted wine from the grapes grown in their vineyard and those of carefully selected custom growers.

P.A. Bowen Farmstead
15701 Doctor Bowen Road, Brandywine, Maryland 20613
Sally Fallon Morell, Owner
P.A. Bowen Farmstead is dedicated to raising grass-based livestock and producing fine artisan raw cheese. Situated in the gentle hills of Maryland’s Prince Georges County, the diverse multi-species farm seeks to mimic the patterns of nature using old-fashioned grazing techniques coupled with modern technologies. The different animal species work symbiotically to heal and build the soil, and to produce high-quality foods that heal and nourish our bodies. Hormones, growth-enhancers, pesticides and herbicides are never used on the P.A. Bowen Farmstead.
Farm owners Geoffrey Morell and Sally Fallon Morell co-founded the Weston A. Price Foundation in 1999, a non-profit nutrition education foundation that disseminates the research findings of Dr. Weston A. Price.

Bald Eagle Farm
17011 River Airport Road, Brandywine, MD 20613
Yates Clagett, Owner
Bald Eagle Farm is a 260-acre family farm located in southern Prince George’s County’s rural tier. Their commitment to their customers is to raise healthy animals in a pasture-based system. They raise grass-fed Black Angus cattle available for purchase in whole, half and quarter cuts. All animals are USDA slaughtered and processed, dry-aged for 21-30 days, vacuum packed and wrapped frozen cuts. Custom meat orders are also available.

SunSplash Farm
14802 Candy Hill Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
Pete Charlerie, Owner
Pete Charlerie started SunSplash Farm in 2011 and grows vegetables and cut flowers on five acres of farmland in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. Originally from Trinidad, Charlerie was introduced to agriculture at a young age when his father worked as a farmer. He was inspired to start his own farm in the Washington DC metro area. Now SunSplash Farm is thriving, producing and selling high quality, fresh vegetables to local communities.

Leighton Horse Farm
13130 Molly Berry Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
Kimberly Clark, Owner
The Leighton Farm facility was created specifically for Thoroughbreds. Located in Croom, considered the farm country of Upper Marlboro, Maryland it provides a quiet, relaxing atmosphere, enabling the horse to focus on developing new skills. Leighton Farm is a diversified facility with an Olympic size dressage arena, cross country jumps for schooling the future eventer, fox hunter or just for fun jumper. There is also a show jumping course and bridle trails through the woods.

Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary
11704 Fenno Road, Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
This tract of land belonged originally to Edgar Merkle, an active conservationist who set out to encourage Canada geese to overwinter here by improving their habitat on his farm. Eventually the Merkle family sold the land to the state, and the site has grown to encompass 1,670 acres. Merkle’s plan worked; in the winter as many as 5,000 geese can be seen feeding and resting in the fields below the visitor center. Exhibits inside the center focus on the life history and management of the Canada goose, and there’s a Discovery Room complete with live snakes, frogs, turtles and other wildlife. (Kids love it!) Outside, bird-watchers can often glimpse bluebirds, osprey, hummingbirds, finches and purple martins. A Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Driving Tour (CADT) connects to the Patuxent River Park and is open for hiking, biking and horseback riding daily (and to cars on Sundays only). It’s worth noting that this route features pull-outs that are handicapped-accessible.

[elbows]

Without really researching this, it looks like basically a drive and ride kind of a thing, correct?

[Greenbelt]

Yes, I think the intention is to drive and park, and then let the different family members do their different routes!. I haven’t scoped out how to get there from DC on a bike, but I doubt it’s easy or straightforward in that part of the county. You definitely don’t want to ride on Route 4 — that’s a high speed car sewer.

[mcfarton]

So my wife is planning on joining me for this event. I may be switching to the 35 mile ride to have the opportunity to ride with her. Hope to meet some forum members there.

sent from your mom’s house

[mcfarton]

See you all soon. I will have the Maryland garb on. Will be hard to miss

sent from your mom’s house

[Greenbelt]

Crop Hop morning
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Don’t forget cleat lube
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A naughty horsie
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[KLizotte]

The horse is thinking, “I can go WAY faster than that bike.” :rolleyes:

[mcfarton]

We had fun. I didn’t take too many pics.

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