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In May 2021, after six years in Los Angeles, my wife and I sold most of our belongings, packed up the car, and moved to Maryland. That October, we closed on a property in Frederick County. Our new home would be an 1820s1 farmhouse with a barn, several outbuildings, and 12 acres of mainly pasture. We named it Blue Glade Farm.
By applying permaculture and agroecological principles to the land, planting a diverse range of native species, both annual and perennial, minimizing to eliminating synthetic inputs and soil disturbance, and incorporating animals, our goal is to integrate our farm into the local ecological whole, while producing a diversity of nutritious food for ourselves and our community.
Results
In 2024, Blue Glade Farm’s total production was ~0.0 pounds. This is a decrease of ~100% over last year’s production of 265.8 pounds (120.6 kilograms).
Discussion
Don’t worry! The farm is still here. It was actually quite the productive year, just not in terms of food production. While we did have a very small garden, I didn’t keep track of its production, as this was what I have deemed “Infrastructure & Grant Year.” And of course, we kept on planting perennial tree crops, mainly chestnuts, pawpaws, and persimmons!
We applied for and received several grants this year, and began implementing several of them. Two should be complete by next spring, and the other two are multi-year grants.
Grant #1 - NRCS EQIP
The Inflation Reduction Act included ~$20 billion of funding for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) within the USDA for environmental and climate projects, such as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP).
Last year, we were awarded a cost-share EQIP grant for three projects:
A high tunnel that will allow for an extended growing season of fruits and vegetables.
A set amount of fencing, which will keep future animals out of the riparian buffer and creek.
Pressured water lines to our three field to more easily provide water to future animals as they rotate through the silvopasture fields.
In 2024, we completed both the high tunnel and pressured water lines projects (below), and the fencing will be completed this winter so that we will be ready for our first cattle next year.
Grant #2 - Maryland’s “5 Million Tree Program”
We applied for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ “5 Million Trees” initiative to 're-wild' ~1.25 acres, or ~10% of our land, including a 20ft riparian buffer along the creek (map below). They will plant it with site-specific native trees and we will maintain it as forest for 15 years minimum (we have no plans to ever revert it from this planting). We consider this land an 'ecological tithe' to the area, providing important wildlife habitat and diversity, some edible production, and the riparian buffer will help both prevent erosion along the creek and absorb nutrients from upstream, keeping the water clean. A generation or two from now, it could be sustainably harvested for firewood, and several generation from now, it could be sustainably harvested for lumber.
Just a few weeks ago, the area was completely mowed for prepare for the 625 native trees that will be planted there next March.
The program will also provide site maintenance for the first three years, including re-planting any trees that don’t survive. After that, the area will be our responsibility to maintain.
Grant #3 - Maryland’s Healthy Soils Program
This summer, Blue Glade Farm received a four-year grant as part of Maryland’s Healthy Soil Program. We will receive money to plant out a hedgerow/windbreak along the western edge of the farm, along with money to continue to overseed our formerly-industrial-monocrop fields with a Mid-Atlantic cattle forage seed mix.
Throughout the four years, researchers will monitor and assess the (hopefully positive) impact on our soils and other environmental factors. Our first assessment was in October, and that field scored 56 out of 99 for soil health (full details on the scoring system can be found at the link). I’m excited to see if we can improve upon that over the next four years.
Grant #4 - Catalyzing Agroforestry
This summer, we were awarded a Catalyzing Agroforestry grant, an initiative funded by Edwards Mother Earth Foundation (EMEF) that is managed by Virginia Tech University in partnership with Rural Action, Appalachian Sustainable Development, North Carolina State University, and SilvoCulture. (FYI the deadline for the next round of funding is March 3, 2025).
We will use this money to finish planting out our last rows of chestnuts, with tree tubes and deer protection, and another round of overseeding our formerly-industrial-monocrop fields with a Mid-Atlantic cattle forage seed mix.
Here you can read an extended Twitter thread on how I’ve been converting that field into a “chestnut-persimmon” silvopasture field for our future rotational grazing system.
We are especially excited to begin this chestnut-persimmon silvopasture system and not only for the delicious food that it will produce. To quote this study published in Nature Food in August:
“The use of silvopasture applied across all eligible land in the grazing stage reduces total cradle-to-gate emissions by 13% through carbon sequestration... representing the largest single opportunity for mitigating emissions in the beef supply chain.”
Finally, I will mention that we do produce honey. I haven’t reported it in the official production numbers either of the past two years because our beekeeper does all the work, and I don’t want to take credit for his production. Moreover, the bees travel much further than our 12 acres, so it would distort any production per acre statistic. But it is real and it is our top source of revenue! If you’re in the Frederick, MD area, please let me know if you’d like to purchase some.2
Methods
Chemical Use
In 2024, we continued our streak of using zero pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. In its first three years, Blue Glade Farm has never used any chemicals in these classes. This isn’t to say that we will never use them, only that we will use them only if there is a true need, it is a last resort, and should we use them, the area and scope will be minimized. In the event that we finally use one of these chemicals, it will be reported here.
We do use a small amount of different fertilizers and elemental compounds, listed below:
We spread Dr. Earth’s Organic Tree Fertilizer across all our fruit and nut trees, helping to give the trees the nutrition they need during their first few years of development. We also spread sulfur pellets around our blueberries and chestnuts, both of which prefer acidic soil.
To my knowledge, of the small numbers of chemicals that we have used for fertilizer in the past three years, all are considered acceptable for organic agriculture.
Energy Use
In 2024, we used 18,339** KwH of electricity. This is more than the average American household (~10,632 KwH), however there are two important caveats. First, our house is entirely electric, including HVAC and all appliances. Therefore we use more electricity but also don’t directly consume any fossil fuels. Second, we do have the farm, and even if I’ll reiterate that the farm’s electricity use is currently de minimis, it is also non-zero (there are lights in the barn, for example).
The farm’s diesel use decreased this year, mainly because my tractor was out of commission for several months (one of the U-joints on the driveshaft cracked). During the repair time, I had to rent/borrow several different zero-turn mowers, some of which used regular unleaded, leading to the new column.
I am excited to finally get our first cattle next year. This is for several reasons, but I mention it here because hopefully, I will be able to report declines in fossil fuel use next year. With the steers grazing, I should need to mow less.
Finally, I’ll briefly mention that while this is a full accounting of the farm’s direct energy consumption, it does not include the embodied energy of the supplies and materials that we purchase. For example, the steel T-posts that we use to stake trees required energy to mine, forge, and transport.
Over time, I expect our electricity use to increase from continually expanded farm operations and also (hopefully) expanded family size. We will continue to attempt to minimize our use of the energy grid through things like solar-powered electric fencing.
Compost
Despite the tractor being down (limiting how much manure I could fetch from one of the neighbors), we had a solid year of compost production. By mixing manure in with carbon and nitrogen sources (such as wood chips, yard waste, kitchen waste, grass clippings, shredded paper, etc.), we create piles that ‘bake’ at quite hot temperatures, speeding decomposition into a nutritious hummus that we can spread in the garden and on trees.
Goals
In last year’s annual report, I listed ten goals for 2023. We mostly or fully met five of the ten goals, with one currently in progress.
Our goals for 2025:
Plant additional chestnut, pawpaw, hazelnut, and persimmon trees
Complete the external fencing
Acquire our first steers and begin the chestnut-persimmon silvopasture system
Expand the western hedge row
Fence out the chicken yard, acquire chickens, and produce our first eggs
Attend >50% of my county’s soil conservation district board meetings
Plant out and harvest our first crops from the high tunnel
Build a walking bridge over the creek
Get and install a farm sign
Clean up the barn and outbuildings (of course, some of this has already happened over the years, but there is still plenty of detritus built up from the previous owners. The real impetus for this is so that I can store hay for the cattle for winter 2025-2026)
Thanks for reading Blue Glade Farm’s 2025 annual report! This year was an even bigger adventure than last year and I can’t wait to see our continued growth year after year, decade after decade. If you’re ever in Maryland, please stop by and say hello.
Previous annual reports: 2023, 2022.
Previous annual reports stated it was an 1890s farmhouse. We were mistaken. After finding out that the local historical society will prepare a report on your property for a small donation, we took them up on the offer. Turns out that the first record of our property is May 1st, 1824!
I am also willing to ship if you’re willing to pay for shipping, but you should really be supporting one of your local beekeepers, not a random guy off the internet.
this is awesome