Where it All Started- ECO City Farms

I had a short interview today with a farmers market manager as part of their application process (more on that later). She asked me about how I started farming, and I thought I’d share what we talked about here too. After graduating from college, I went to work as a Chesapeake Conservation Corp. Member (think Americorp but for Maryland) at ECO City Farms in Prince George’s County. The farm is an urban vegetable farm with 1.5 acres right in the middle of the suburbs. With over 10 years in operation and strong educational programs for future farmers, if you are involved in Maryland's small-scale farming community, you probably know ECO already. I worked there for a year, learning everything about vegetable production from seeding to selling. I wonder if I did not have a good first farm experience with experienced and caring mentors, if I would’ve kept going. The first photo above is from a recent visit with Kayla Agonoy (middle), the Deputy Director and one of my mentors, and Farm Manager Maddie (holding Rosie the farm cat), who started at ECO the same time I did. I don’t have many photos from when I worked there because I didn’t really like taking photos— I still kind of don’t. Since then, I managed Common Root Farm, which is literally down the street from me, and I volunteered at a few more farms here and there, but I’ll always remember where it all started.