I first met my neighbor, Carol Bean, when she ran the FreshFarm Market and lived with her husband, Mark Connolly, in a charming cottage on Pot Pie in Wittman. Most Saturdays I would visit her stall at the St. Michaels Farmers Market and I was soon hooked on her radish microgreens which enhanced many of my summer tuna salads.
Know Good Farm started with heirloom tomatoes, ducks for eggs and meat, and flowers. The day I visited several male turkeys with their resplendent plumage strolled through the property in hot pursuit of the “ladies”. Carol explained that the heritage turkeys were smaller and an older breed than their Butterball cousins. Her turkeys are grass-fed which produces succulent meat.
As Carol and I chatted, Muscovy ducks checked under the bird feeders to pick up any seeds that had fallen while the birds feasted above, a great example of a food chain.
Making a living solely from the land is unpredictable since each year you are at the mercy of Mother Nature, like the heavy rains we had in the spring of 2017. To supplement the farm, Carol now offers Vegetable CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes of fresh vegetables for $25/week for pick-up at the farm or the St. Michaels Farmers Market. There is also an Oyster CSA in November and December with free delivery to the St. Michaels/Bay Hundred Area. Classes and workshops are offered as well as gift cards and seasonal farm gift boxes (Mother’s Day, Summer Season, Fall Season and Christmas). Seasonal wreaths are available during the holiday season.
Summer’s and Fall’s bounty from the 1.5 acres under cultivation may include heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, radish microgreens, beans, cucumbers, several varieties of squash, etc. The Muscovy duck eggs are especially prized by bakers and the duck meat is sought after for its being 97% fat free and tasty due to the grass-fed duck diet. Seasonal Bay bounty includes soft-shell crabs and oysters.
Know Good Farm is now open Sunday through Thursday from 9:00 am to noon or by appointment. The first Open House at Know Good Farm will be held on May 19th from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, followed by a class on “Growing Heirloom Tomatoes” from 2:00 to 4:00pm. The St. Michaels Farmers Market is now open from 8:30 to 11:30 so visit Carol at her stall (please leave a bunch of radish microgreens for me). Starting May 26, she will be at Piazza Italian Market on Saturdays in the summer from 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm where she will be selling her over 25 varieties of tomato seedlings.
Upcoming dates or events include orders for the Mother’s Day Gift Box available from April 20 through May 12 and the Open House and Plant Sale on May 19.
For more information about Know Good Farm at 8721 Cummings Road in Wittman , visit www.knowgoodfarm.com or call 410-829-1829.
Jennifer Martella has pursued her dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. Her award winning work has ranged from revitalization projects to a collaboration with the Maya Lin Studio for the Children’s Defense Fund’s corporate retreat in her home state of Tennessee.
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