Winter Brings in the Close of the 2025 Season

A reflection by the farmer and bold new product to share

Written by: Chris DeFeo

It really is a joy to walk around the farm in the low light of an early winter morning after a snowfall. I especially enjoy taking in the view from inside the warm, cozy high tunnel, where we are overwintering our greens. You might notice that I still have some crops growing outside, tucked under two layers of row cover (top right). I’m hoping to overwinter spinach, kale, and collards until they begin growing again in January or February.

2025 brought both new successes and challenges to the farm. I hired my first part-time employees, and we began selling to the kitchen at Georgetown Prep and to Farm to School Frederick (F2S). These new partnerships allowed us to serve a wider community and, in the case of F2S, created an opportunity for food-insecure communities to share in the flavors and homegrown spirit of our farm. We were also able to expand our CSA drop-off to two locations, allowing more Frederick Health employees to become members of our growing community.

Unfortunately, their were issues along the way. Notably, when deer ate all of my corn and a late-season drought and heat wave made it difficult to steward all of the Brussels sprouts and other fall crops I had hoped to offer through the winter. Regardless, every year I farm I learn countless new lessons, all with the goal of producing the highest-quality vegetables - both in terms of flavor and nutritional value.

I’m really looking forward to 2026. For one, I’m working on hiring a full-time employee to help take the farm to the next level. I’m also waiting to hear whether we will be recipients of Frederick County’s Ag Innovation Award. If awarded, I hope to use the grant to build a heated greenhouse to support season extension and install automated climate controls to improve the quality and yields of our summer tomatoes. We’ll also be switching our online store to improve the user experience and provide more flexibility for our 2026 customizable CSA. We were thrilled to begin selling gourmet mushrooms from Inspiration Acres this year and hope to continue that partnership in 2026. Finally, we’re exploring partnerships with farms that may be interested in supplying pork, beef, chicken, and lamb.

Finally, we are thrilled to share with you a way to commemorate 2025! See below

DFF Christmas Ornaments

Over the past couple of weeks, Laura has developed a new passion: making Christmas ornaments. She discovered this skill when she was commissioned by Julia’s dance studio to create ornaments for the Nutcracker performance this past weekend.

Inspired by that experience, Laura has made two ornaments that we are now offering in our store to celebrate the close of the 2025 season. We also hope to use a portion of the proceeds to help expand our participation in community food programs with Frederick Health, Farm to School Frederick, and other initiatives - so we can continue working to ensure that food-insecure community members have access to local, organic produce.

This year’s bulbs include the “Keep Calm and Carrot On” slogan Laura penned for a past post when we began harvesting our fall carrots (read here). We also have a chicken bulb to honor the hard work of our laying hens this year.

Each bulb is hand-painted on both the front and back and costs $20. They are available through our online store or in person at the Myersville Farmers Market next Saturday.

Have a great Holiday Season!