Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Jagoz.
Hi Emma, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I first started growing vegetables when I was pregnant with my first child because I read that arugula helped baby brain development. I grew loads of arugula and a few tomatoes on my apartment balcony and quickly fell in love with growing food. My vegetable garden grew and GREW over the next two years and in 2011 I decided to take the leap and start my own farm at age 25 with two babies under age 2.
My name is Emma Jagoz, and I started Moon Valley Farm in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD where I grew up. We grew vegetables for a small Community-Supported Agriculture program serving just 15 members the first season and have grown steadily ever since, adding more acres and members each season. Without owning land and with very limited financial resources, I decided to barter land from my neighbors and did a LOT of DIY projects to bootstrap the operation.
For eight years, we grew on bartered land throughout the county, and in late 2019, I purchased land of my own in Woodsboro, Maryland in Frederick County. We now farm exclusively on our own 25-acre property, and now grow all-year-round for over 50 restaurants and hundreds of CSA members in the Baltimore, DC, and Frederick regions. We focus on storage and specialty crops. I absolutely love what I do and get joy out of sharing the harvests with our community every week!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m not sure that farming is ever a smooth road, and it’s made even more challenging by growing in a changing climate. One of the most challenging seasons we had was in 2018. The first half of the year was very very dry, and on leased land, getting enough water for all of our crops was a constant challenge.
Starting in late July, we received record rains after record rains, and experienced seeds washing out, erosion, rotting crops, mildew, and disease, and lost the ability to prep and plant new ground. We had to quickly pivot our planting plans and added a focus on growing microgreens to help fill out our CSA boxes.
The increasingly unpredictable climate we live in has helped to inform our long-term business plans, which now include growing in more high tunnels and greenhouses to protect our crops (and our employees!) from extreme weather events and widespread losses.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Moon Valley Farm?
Moon Valley Farm is a 100% woman-owned specialty vegetable and herb farm that focuses on year-round production and sales to our Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) members, restaurants, and wholesale partners throughout Maryland and DC.
We partner with a select number of Maryland-based growers to widen our offerings for our customers to also include gourmet mushrooms, fruits, grains, beans, eggs, and additional veggies. We prioritize consistency and diversity for our customers as well as high-quality for peak nutrient value and storage life.
At Moon Valley Farm, we are passionate about changing the food system to be locally sourced because we believe that it is better for our environment, our Chesapeake Bay, AND our bodies. We know that land use in the US is killing our environment, and we know our diets are making our bodies sick.
We believe that a collective of local farmers responsibly stewarding the land can help change the food system and improve our health at the same time. We want to help our customers succeed at eating locally by providing easy guides to what’s in the season when, and recipe ideas to help those who are trying new ingredients.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
To help at work, I listen to the podcasts “Manager Tools” and “Lead to Win”, and two books I have read and enjoyed our “How to Be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi, and “Think Again” by Adam Grant.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.moonvalleyfarm.net
- Instagram: @moonvalleyfarm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moonvalleybaltimore
Image Credits
Lise Metzger, Grant Knud-Hansen, Jessica Leigh Photography, and Emma Jagoz
