It’s early morning on a muggy summer day at the farmers’ market, and the temperature  has already soared into the 90s. Despite the heat, the vendors are hard at work unloading crates of fresh fruits and vegetables, some picked off the vine only hours before. Some of these farmers have been awake since before sunrise, guiding their trucks onto darkened stretches of road so that they can bring Maryland’s Best to their neighbors across the state.

The movement toward “buying and eating locally” has been called a trend by some critics, but with 5,274 farmers’ markets in the United States, and 107 of those in Maryland alone, it seems less of a fad and more of a lifestyle change for many Americans. According to the Maryland Department of Agriculture, if every household purchased just $12 worth of farm products for 8 weeks this summer, over $200 million dollars would be put back into the pockets of Maryland farmers.

Eating local and sustainable doesn’t just mean vegetables and farms, either. It also includes enjoying wine made from Maryland grapes or fresh cage-free eggs and farm-fresh milk from Maryland farms. It includes the people who help distribute local foods and those who prepare it. And more and more, women are staking a claim in the effort, providing Marylanders with the best and freshest foods. Meet four local women who are doing just that.

Calvert’s Gift Farm

16813 Yeoho Road, Sparks, MD

Telephone: (410) 472-6764

Email: giftcal@aol.com

Website: www.calvertsgiftfarm.com

Calvert’s Gift Farm lies in Sparks, Maryland, where Becky and Jack Gurley have been farming organically since 1995. “We chose organic first as a way to create a niche for our farm,” Becky says. “It didn’t take us long to realize that organic is a sensible way to farm.”

Calvert’s Gift Farms grows a wide variety of produce, from sweet and crisp sugar snap peas to a rainbow assortment of heirloom tomatoes. This is a boon to the Marylanders who get their vegetables from the Gurleys at the four farmers’ markets they attend in Bel Air, Takoma Park, Timonium, and Kenilworth Mall. Marylanders can also get produce from Calvert’s Gift through the farm’s CSA (community supported agriculture).

Gurley believes supporting local and sustainable agriculture is important for many reasons. Nutrition is one: “Food travels an average of 1,500 miles from farm to table,” she says. “Nutrients begin to be lost the moment food is picked, so the fresher the produce, the more nutritious.”

Black Ankle Vineyard

14463 Black Ankle Road, Mt. Airy, MD

Phone: 301-829-3338

Email: info@blackankle.com

Website: www.blackankle.com

Sarah O’Herron and Ed Boyce weren’t always winemakers. They originally started out as management consultants until one day they wondered, “What makes some wines so much better than others?” They set out to learn.

Black Ankle, aptly named for the black ankles that would result after winemakers stomped the juice from the grapes with their feet, lies on a 146-acre farm in Mt. Airy, Maryland. The first grapes were planted in 2003, and O’Herron says, “We bottled our first wines in April of 2008.”

The immediate response to Black Ankle wines was positive. Their flagship Crumbling Rock wine, which O’Herron cites as one of her favorites, won the Maryland’s Governor’s Cup competition two years in a row. Not bad for winemakers who were self-educated in the craft, driven by their curiosity and their passion for wine.

Black Ankle wines are available from over 100 retailers and restaurants all over the state (see their website for a complete list), but O’Herron says the best way to try the wines is to head to Black Ankle Vineyards itself. “It’s just a beautiful spot,” she says. The vineyard is open for tastings on Fridays, from 6:00-8:30 p.m., and opens Saturday and Sunday at noon. Reservations are not required, but large groups are encouraged to call ahead.

South Mountain Veggies

Located: 4507 G Metropolitan Court, Frederick, MD

Phone: 240-457-0993

Email: abby@southmountainveggie.com

Website: www.southmountainveggies.com

In their time at South Mountain Creamery, Abby Brusco and her husband, Tony, saw an increase in desire for locally grown and produced food. Seeing a demand for this service, the Bruscos started South Mountain Veggies.

Brusco recognized that many Marylanders “live in an area that is overworked, overstressed,” and that “customers didn’t necessarily have time to shop the markets or fit the CSA schedule into their already busy lives.” With South Mountain Veggies, the Bruscos made it possible for customers to go online to order exactly what they wanted and have it delivered to their homes.

Their business helps busy consumers as well as the farmers who want to get their goods to market but can’t find the time. They do not have a farm themselves, but Brusco doesn’t mind. “We are good at home delivery, so why don’t we allow the farmer to do what he or she does best and grow the food?”

Brusco also thinks that by supporting local foods, consumers are supporting the local economy. “You want to support the area you live in and keep the local economy growing,” she says.

Hummingbird Farms

12319 Ridgely Road, Ridgely, MD

Phone: (410) 634-2121

Jennifer Sturmer originally studied biology when she was a student at Tufts University. Farming hadn’t even been a consideration when she was approached by a business partner with the opportunity to run a hydroponic tomato greenhouse. She says opportunities like these don’t come by often, so she jumped at the chance. It worked out that her natural curiosity as a biologist would lend itself perfectly to what she calls, “A huge experiment that really matters.”

Sturmer and her husband produce two crops of tomatoes each year using hydroponics at Hummingbird Farms in Ridgely, Maryland. “Everything is done by hand,” she says, from picking the tomatoes to packing them. The tomatoes at Hummingbird, Sturmer says, are picked ripe the same day they are put on the trucks to be shipped to grocers across Maryland, at stores such as Giant, Whole Foods, Roots, Grauls, and Balducci’s.

Her customers seem to appreciate this level of detail and dedication. Sturmer says that she has received phone calls from happy Marylanders who want to express their thanks for such a superior product that also allows them to support the local economy.

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To find out more about Maryland’s Best and where you can find local produce, products, seafood, meats, and specialty items, check out the Maryland’s Best website at www.marylandsbest.net, sponsored by the Maryland Department of Agriculture. On the site you will also find sample menus and recipes for delicious dining using local Maryland products.

More local farms:

• Baurers Orchard, Westminister
• Butlers Orchard, Germantown
• Clarks Elioak Farm, Ellicott City
• Heyser Farm, Silver Spring
• Larriland Farm, Woodbine
• Mt. Airy U-Pick Farm, Davidsonville
• Schillinger’s Farm, Severn