So. Maryland Crop Hop —

[Greenbelt]

This coming Sunday, Sept 20, we’re going to do a scout run of the crop hop ride. Planning to carpool from Proteus at 9am down to the start and ride the metric century, just to get a feel for the route and what to expect. Here’s the routes/stops page.

Anybody who wants to come of for this ride on Sunday, just let me know and we can figure out meetup.

I need to talk with the organizers, but I’m pretty sure they’ll need volunteers as ride marshals and helperouters, as well as SAG vehicles to patrol the routes looking for trouble (so to speak). Please let me know if you’d like to volunteer.

Here’s the routes and stops page: http://www.crophop.com/2014routesfarms.html

All routes begin and end at the historic site of Nottingham, located in Prince George’s County, on October 25, 2014. All registrations by Sept. 30th are guaranteed a complementary picnic lunch a free T-shirt for adult riders!

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The SILO CENTURY(The 62-mile metric century ride!)
Click here for MAP and ELEVATION CHART

Farm stops include SunSplash Farm, Mt.Calvert, Leighton Horse Farm, Romano Winery and Vineyard, P.A. Bowen Farmstead and Bald Eagle Farm.

Riders have the option of two start times: 8 a.m and 8:30 a.m.

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The HARVEST HOP (approximately 35 miles)
Click here for MAP and ELEVATION CHART

Farm stops include SunSplash Farm, Leighton Horse Farm, Romano Winery and Vineyard and Bald Eagle Farm.

Riders have the option of two start times: 9 a.m and 9:30 a.m.

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The BARNSTORMER (approximately 17 miles)
Click here for MAP and ELEVATION CHART

Farm stops include SunSplash Farm, Romano Winery and Vineyardand Bald Eagle Farm.

Riders have the option of two start times: 10 a.m and 10:30 a.m.

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The SPROUT ROUTE (approximately 6 miles)
Click here for MAP and ELEVATION CHART

This ride goes to Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary and back to Nottingham.

This ride starts at 11 a.m.

2014 LAUNCH SITE

Nottingham
17412 Nottingham Road, Upper Marlboro, MD
The 2014 Crop Hop begins and ends at the historic site of Nottingham, located in Prince George’s County along the banks of the Patuxent River. Once an 18th-century port town, not much remains but the one-room schoolhouse and the old general store, now the center for the Patuxent River Keeper. It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

War of 1812: The town was used as a strategic base of operations by Commodore Joshua Barney during the War of 1812. Barney retreated in 1814 when British troops, on their way to Washington DC, established a camp at Nottingham. Three days later, the Battle of Bladensburg resulted in the Burning of Washington, and the White House, U.S. Capitol and other government buildings were destroyed.
http://www.pgparks.com/War_of_1812
Nottingham Patuxent River Keeper Center: The site is now the Nottingham Patuxent River Keeper Center. The Center is handicapped accessible, and rental outfitting is available for canoe and kayak trips. Here River Keeper Fred Tutman oversees the 110-mile river with staff and volunteers. The house that houses the Center was once the old country store.
http://www.patuxentwatertrail.org

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2014 FARMS

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.
http://www.romanowinery.com

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.
http://www.pabowenfarmstead.com

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.
http://www.southernmarylandmeats.com/farms.html#pgco
http://www.localharvest.org/bald-eagle-farm-M50761

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.
http://www.sunsplashfarm.com

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.
http://www.leightonfarm.com

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.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/southern/merkle.asp

[Greenbelt]

From the looks, I misnamed this thread — it’s not really southern Maryland as much as Southern Prince George’s county. Scouting the route today.

[Author]

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