FARM BUSINESS PROFILE: Wildberry Farm + Market

March 10, 2022

Wildberry Farm and Market is located at 1027 St. Stephens Church Road in Crownsville. Our Vice President of Communications Rosa Cruz met with owners Matt and Bridget Jones to learn more about this newcomer to Anne Arundel County’s agricultural community. More information on their products and events is available on their website wildberryfarmmarket.com and by following “wildberryfarmmarket” on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

 

Tell us a little bit about how you got started.

Matt Jones: My family has been on the farm since the 1930s. It used to be a tobacco farm, but eventually my grandfather took the buyout to stop growing tobacco and moved on to doing produce. As I got older, as my dad got older, we all went the trades route rather than sticking on the farm. There was another farmer down the road that my grandfather was close with. They ended up farming our fields for us so they could expand their farming footprint, and we could maintain agricultural status. Fast forward to 2019, that farmer passed away and his two brothers passed away in the same year. So all of that came to a halt. Bridget and I had been here for almost a decade at that point, and we had always wanted to do something with the farm. We were essentially put in the position where now we have to do something because the fields need to stay fields and things have to keep moving. That is what paved the way for Wildberry.

Bridget: Wildberry became my baby. In 2019, our youngest child went to kindergarten and I had been teaching preschool. I was in this place of asking where I was going in terms of my career and I felt like I was at a crossroads. We had always wanted to take over the farm but what did that look like? I remember sitting on top of the driveway with my sister in law and looking at what is now our “Field Market” field and saying what I envisioned for the space. I thought it was a pipe dream.

We started our LLC in 2019, and then COVID hit. During the weeks of the shutdown, we got so much stuff done around the farm! With my background in social media and marketing, I focused on building our website and social media platforms.

We have a bunch of friends in the Annapolis creative community, and when things started opening back up in June of 2020, we invited to them to the farm for a cost-free “vendor weekend.” We sold our produce, they could come to the farm for free and sell their goods, and we could gather outside on the farm for a morning of fun. After that weekend, people started asking to come back! It became this community location centered around our agriculture where everybody is welcome. Small businesses have a storefront for the morning, we sell our eggs, produce and other farm goods. In 2021 we had 30 rotating vendors and two rotating food trucks every market date. The market became this amazing community event. It started with once a month in 2020. In 2021, it was twice a month and now in 2022 it will happen every Saturday.

Our dream with all of this is to keep the farm in tact for future generations. The farm was about 300 acres when it was fully operational back in the ’50s and ‘60s. Now it’s about 75 to 80 acres, which is very manageable for us.

Walk us through a typical day during the season on the farm.

Bridget: On days that Matt is home, we get up pretty early and we start our day having coffee together, and talk about what needs to be accomplished that day. We only have weekends to work with, so we are essentially fitting his job on the farm into two days per week. He does what he needs to do on the farm, whether that be planting, harvesting or whatever is needed at that time. He is the heavy lifter. I take care of the chickens, and our large garden area. Right now we have about 40-something chickens. During the season, I’ll work in the garden area which is really a field that’s fenced in, that is where we grow our food for the market and farm-to-table meals. In the evening, Matt and I like to water the garden together. It is important to us to start and end our days together.

Describe a challenge that you faced as a business owner. How did you respond? What lesson did you gain from it?

Matt: One of the biggest challenges is adaptability and being able to pivot. One thing we say is we let the farm tell us what to do. It’s like jumping into a river on a tube. That river is going to go wherever it’s going go, no matter how hard you want to paddle the other way. Rather than fight it, we tend to go with that current, but guide it. It’s like guided chaos. That has led to the markets we have. How fast it’s grown has been mind-blowing. I think it’s because it’s something the community wants and needs right now.

It sounds like you rode the wave of people wanting community, wanting to support businesses in the community and just really be together at time when we’re being told to not be together.

Matt: 100% yes. The community aspect of our farm is the heart of it. It’s a big deal to us. We get told a lot, which makes our hearts feel good is, thank you for doing this, we need this.

Bridget: It’s kind of reinventing the farmers’ market. You’re going to come here and meet the person down the street that sells honey. People who come to our markets are passionate about supporting local, sustainability, and making sure they know where their food comes from. We love that our customers can come to the farm and grocery shop and also find a cool gift for their loved ones, or themselves, all while supporting the local economy.

What advice would you give someone who is considering a career in farming?

Bridget: It’s an amazing way to live. It’s very hard on you, on your body physically. Whether it’s a hobby farm and you have milking goats and chickens or you have a garden for your own familial purpose or a full fledged farm, it is a lifestyle. You’re up with the sun and down with the sun. You’re always on. You have to love it. You have to be committed to it.

What are some current trends that you’re seeing in agriculture?

Bridget: One thing I’m really noticing is that, because of social media, the internet and our ability to tap into our community, people want to get to know the farmer, or farming family, that grew the produce. It’s not just knowing about how your eggs, meat, and vegetables were grown or raised, it’s all the ingredients. All the information is at our fingertips now because we’re so connected.

Care to share any future plans for the Wildberry Farm + Market?

Bridget: We are starting to get into pasture rotation and overseeding. Matt is in the process of building us a chicken trailer. We’re planning on putting about 220 chickens into one of our fields and using portable electric netting fencing to rotate them through the large field. The chicken trailer will have steel grading as the floor so the droppings fall through. The chickens will rid the field of pests, fertilize the ground, and clear weeds. Then we’ll overseed on top of that, which is the no-till aspect of all this, with some sort of alfalfa or timothy grass. We can either put goats or other chickens out there and continue the process. This pilot project will be a way for us to gauge the soil health of our farm which we think will be drastically improved after we start pasture rotation and overseeing practices.

Matt: Personally for us we feel like it’s our turn. Take care of the land and the land will take care of us.

What can people expect at Wildberry Farm this year?

Bridget: This year, the Field Market will run every Saturday from May to November, 9am to 1pm. The rain date is Sunday, same time-frame. We will be hosting various Farm-to-Table meals throughout the summer and fall. We host those along with local chef Adrienne Shoots with Graze Gourmet. She prepares the food with ingredients sourced completely from the farm in a commercial kitchen and brings it to the farm. We plate here and you eat it here on the farm in the midst of our wild flowers. We will also host various workshops like a Flower Crown Workshop at the end of the summer, a Holiday Wreath Workshop in December. We’ll end our season with the Vintage Christmas Market which will be the second and third Saturday in December 3pm-7pm. The rain date is also Sunday, same time-frame.

Anne Arundel County Executive Pittman, Department of Inspections and Permits Announce Full Implementation of the Land Use Navigator (LUN) »