JOANNE: It's a big, wide agricultural world, from the shore to the mountains and all points in between.

Did you know bay scallops see the world through baby blues?

That feasting on crabs could be good for your garden?

And that green tomatoes can be the envy of your meal?

Don't go anywhere, stories about the people who work our land and feed our state are coming up next on "Maryland Farm and Harvest".

JOANNE: Major funding for "Maryland Farm and Harvest" is made possible in part by, The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, investing in smarter farming to support safe and affordable food, feed and fuel, and a healthy Bay.

Additional funding provided by, Maryland's Best, good for you, good for Maryland.

A grant from the Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Fund.

MARBIDCO, helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations.

A grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crop Block Program.

Farm Credit, lending support to agriculture and rural America.

The Maryland Soy Bean board and Soy Bean Check Off program, progress powered by farmers.

Wegmans Food Markets, healthier, better lives through food.

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts.

The Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Greenhouse Association.

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated.

The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

And by... (theme music plays).

JOANNE: When we think of farming in Maryland naturally, we think of sprawling crop fields and rolling pasture land.

Hi, I'm Joanne Clendining, welcome to "Maryland Farm and Harvest".

We're in Northern Harford County at the Holloway Brothers Farm, and as you can see it's the epitome of a land-based rural farm.

The Holloways farm over 2,000 acres of corn, beans, and wheat.

But as we'll see in this week's show, Maryland's waters also yield a bounty worthy of a feast, including our first story where a crustacean delicacy is making a comeback thanks to some lifelong friends.

On Maryland's Chincoteague Bay, these farmers traded in their tractor for a boat.

With an ambitious plan to reintroduce a long lost Maryland seafood species.

MATT: So this morning we're gonna come out here and we're going to check some of our bay scallops.

JOANNE: Eastern Shore native Matt Holloway was in the sod farming business for 20 years.

MATT: I read an article about the bay scallop history in the Chesapeake Bay and it talked about the storm that came through that wiped out all the submerged aquatic vegetation and basically ruined an industry.

JOANNE: Maryland had a thriving wild scallop population until the 1930s.

But this Aquaculture farm has brought them back to life.

MATT: So, this spot geographically for us, in the Chincoteague Bay, uh, just on the outskirts of Assateague actually, we can hear the ocean right now, I knew that this Bay has high salinity, so if it was going to work anywhere this is a place to try it.

Yeah, are those the lantern nets?

JOANNE: He teamed up with childhood friends Bryan Dickey and Lee Beauchamp, cofounding Baywater Seafood.

BRYAN: We all grew up together, fishing and hunting and sailing on the Eastern Shore.

And uh, now, now we're all starting a business together, at 40-years-old, so.

JOANNE: Claire joined the team as marketing and environmental expert.

CLAIRE: VIMS is the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

We're trying to rehabilitate the populations.

and we get spat from them, which are baby bay scallops, in exchange for, um, kind of, research assistance.

MATT: You know ideally you should be able to get these things up from spat up to a sellable size, which is about inch and three-quarter to 2 inches in three to four months.

As far as aquaculture goes, we're about the only ones in this region for sure.

Because of that, there's really not a book on how to do it, so we're still developing the process.

BRYAN: This rig, Lee has done a lot of the engineering work, so this is all custom fabricated for us.

JOANNE: Lee, who is serving overseas with the National Guard, developed this unique system for harvesting.

MATT: He did research, and he found these lantern nets that they use, the way they were using them over in Asia.

They're used in deep water over there to grow sea scallops mostly, so we've modified it to our shallow water system here, we have these custom-made, so, then shipped over.

BRYAN: They're seven layers, they hang in the water vertically like this, but there's a metal frame in each, each layer to keep the, keep it open and the webbing retains the scallops in there.

MATT: We get them when they're young, they're in higher densities.

And then we start to thin them out each time that Bryan goes through them, power washes them, cleans them.

One net might turn into three nets, and then three nets might turn into 10 nets by the end of it.

JOANNE: The scallops are transferred to aerated waters to keep them fresh.

They're then placed in the trommel to be sorted by size, and go through an additional hand-selecting process.

BRYAN: For us, for, this is about an inch and three-quarter.

JOANNE: The smaller scallops will go back into the nets to continue growing and contributing to the bay.

BRYAN: It's, really, kind of cool to watch it form a whole ecosystem around our lease site, it's pretty neat.

CLAIRE: We have a pair of Kingfishers that like to nest over here, they're very fun to watch.

JOANNE: Claire's role goes beyond marketing and sales, with a background in Environmental Education.

CLAIRE: So bay scallops are really cool because they're very mobile.

They move because of their eyesight.

So they've got up to 80 sets of eyes.

JOANNE: These blue, iridescent eyeballs are all around the mantle of the shell, giving scallops an almost 360-degree view.

CLAIRE: And they use jet propulsion to move around, when they sense danger or they sense a good place to hide.

They will shoot water out either side of the back of their um, shells, and be able to move around.

JOANNE: Like oysters, scallops are bi-valve species, meaning they have an inhalant and exhalant valve, that ingests algae and other toxins as their food source.

CLAIRE: The more bivalves we have, the clearer our water's gonna be, uh, so it's really important that we give just as much attention to them as we do oysters, because they filter about the same rate.

Because we work with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and they look at bay scallop mortality, uh, their growth rates, kind of figuring out what's the best way to rehabilitate bay scallop populations.

And we get spat from them, which are a baby bay scallops, in exchange for research assistance, so we'll take some measurements for them.

So when you buy bay scallops from us, you're not only helping a local business, but you're also buying in one of the more sustainable ways you can when it comes to proteins.

JOANNE: When preparing an order, each scallop is inspected and cleaned by hand.

MATT: The main thing we're doing here is getting any biofouling off, so worm coral, barnacles, but then we're also checking to make sure that they're not hollow.

Sometimes we find them hollow.

(tapping).

JOANNE: And power washed.

Then packaged and shipped on ice, and out the door within minutes.

Where they're prepared at local restaurants, like Oaked 110, in Snow Hill Maryland.

MATT: It's a replacement for a little-neck clam in any dish you wanna use, but it tastes way better.

The texture is more like a lobster-type texture, the flavor is sweet.

I guess scallops in general, especially sea scallops have kinda gotten a bad rap recently, because 90% of what you eat is not an actual scallop, most of it is a fish meal or fish paste that's formed into the shape of a scallop.

With ours, there's no question about if they're real.

You're eating the entire thing, so if you have any question about your food security, we're definitely uh, you're not getting anything fake from us.

JOANNE: For over a decade now, a major eel grass restoration project has been underway in the lower Chesapeake Bay.

Eel grass provides a natural habitat for bay scallops.

If all goes according to plan, researchers estimate that in 10 years, the bay scallop population will have increased enough to reintroduce a scallop fishery into the Chesapeake Bay area.

Alright, it's time to test your agricultural know-how.

Here is our thingamajig for the week.

Do you think you know what it is?

Nope, it's not a pencil sharpener.

Here's a hint: Julia Child would've had one of these in her kitchen.

Stay tuned, and we'll have the answer at the end of the show.

Marylanders know a thing of two about eating crabs, but no one does it bigger than the Annapolis Rotary Club, and with zero waste.

We follow the crab from the catch to the feast, to the compost pile.

A massive party.

More than 1,000 people eating 200 bushels of crabs.

60 gallons of butter, 50 gallons of vinegar, and 450 pounds of J.O.

Spice.

Every year, the Annapolis Rotary holds the self-proclaimed largest crab feast in the world.

DEVIN: I've been, attended crab feast at least for the last eight years.

ALISON: There's a crowd of good people.

BO: It's crab, and football.

Crab cakes are for tourists.

JOANNE: But what makes this event special is not just the size, it's the circle of life that it represents for Maryland.

The crabs come from our waters, and everything goes back into the land.

100% of the waste is recycled or composted.

If we rewind a couple of days, the journey from catch to compost starts early in the morning.

They say love what you do, and you'll never work a day in your life.

HOWARD: See I haven't graded them at all.

JOANNE: And that's why Howard Blizzard decided to work after he retired.

Choosing a sunrise and the bay his office.

HOWARD: I started crabbing with my dad, many, many years ago, and it never stopped.

JOANNE: "Blizz" as he's known to his friends is one of dozens of watermen catching crabs for the feast.

HOWARD: Pretty much everything between, around quarter after 5:00 to 5:30 every morning.

JOANNE: A lifelong Eastern Shore Marylander, the health of the bay plays a vital role in his life.

HOWARD: Now that's a female there.

JOANNE: Once Blizz pulls up his 2400 feet of line... HOWARD: Brings 'em up good, yeah.

JOANNE: He brings his catch to Adam Higgins at Chesapeake Seafood, the caterer for the feast.

Straight from Maryland waters to the Maryland distributor.

ADAM: We started talking to Rotary in January, started prepping for the job that way.

But about three weeks out we started making our orders and confirming that watermen would be able to catch the crabs for us.

JOANNE: Higgins cooks the crab with the tradition of three generations in the business.

First he culls the catch of dead crabs to be recycled.

ADAM: As you can see, a party calls for 50 bushels, it takes a few more bushel to make that.

JOANNE: Then gives them a nice cold bath to put them in a catatonic state which keeps them in one piece.

Then they're steamed, J.O.

Spice and water, then shipped out from Saint Michaels to Annapolis.

The amount of work that goes into feeding a crowd this big is massive, on top of going zero waste.

ADAM: To think that we're saving it and helping the environment at the same time is a great thing to do.

JOANNE: It's not only the food that's green here, even what it's served on is either recyclable or compostable.

From the flatware to the cups holding the butter and J.O.

Seasoning.

LEIGH: So we thought as a community, we're doing this large community event.

Uh, we're raising money for charity and we thought it was the perfect opportunity to, obviously, take an initiative in being green and taking care of the earth.

So all of this gets composted and 100% back to uh, mother earth, yeah.

JOANNE: Leigh Rand used to run the crab feast, and now runs the green team.

It costs the Annapolis Rotary about double to go this green, and it takes a lot of work.

You have to teach all the revelers which bins to use.

LEIGH: It's a lot more work in that we definitely need to, you know, divide everything up.

Because it costs us more if anything gets contaminated.

Are you all finished?

GUEST: Yes.

Where do you put your tray back?

LEIGH: We're uh, we're composting all of the food and cardboard items.

JOANNE: Once the crabs are cracked and the bellies are full, the work starts to return the crustaceans back to the land.

JUSTEN: This is like the less glamorous part of saving the planet, right?

So this is, involves gloves and boots.

JOANNE: Instead of enjoying the party, Justen Garrity from Veteran's Compost gets to pick through the leftovers, separating compost from the recycling.

JUSTEN: For every ton of food scraps that we compost, we assume that we're the equivalent of saving, or planting, 110 trees.

JOANNE: The foodstuff is ready to transport.

Then Monday morning, they're dumped at Veteran's Compost... where the crew double-checks to make sure all the recycled materials are out, then covered with wood chips and the composting process starts.

In 90 days microorganisms, bacteria and bugs will turn the crabs into nutrient-rich soil good for gardening and farming.

Garrity thinks the crab feast could be a framework for other big events to go zero waste.

JUSTEN: I think being a zero waste event is doable, if you really wanna do it.

And that's because you're gonna need to take a few extra steps, ordering the right products, cups and plates and things like that.

Having some signage, having some volunteers in place to help monitor things and collect everything, but like very, very doable.

JOANNE: For everyone involved, the journey from crab to compost might take more effort, but the end result is that going green can create more green.

JUSTEN: It's a way to take waste and turn it into something that everyone around here needs to grow plants, to grow crops.

Allows us to serve more farms and home gardeners.

JOANNE: It's not just the crabs, The Maryland Department of the Environment estimates that 34% of what we throw away is compostable.

You can do your own composting at home, check out our resources page for more info.

And did you know 50% of the crabs caught in the US come from the Chesapeake Bay?

On this week's "Farm to Skillet" chef Rodney Scruggs combines sweet corn, green tomatoes, and Maryland crab meat to create a mashup that will make you wish it was summer all year long.

RODNEY: Hi folks, I'm chef Rodney Scruggs from Watershed Alley here in Chestertown and today I'm gonna show you how to make a wonderful dish that's been a huge success at the restaurant.

It is sweet corn panna cotta, with green tomato consommé, topped with fresh Maryland crab meat, and we're gonna get everything at the market today, so let's go.

There's nothing like local.

What's up James?

JAMES: What's up, Rodney?

RODNEY: How are you?

You got some beautiful corn?

JAMES: Yeah I got some sweet corn.

RODNEY: Alright, cool.

So what do we got here, is this the corn for tonight?

JAMES: Yeah, this is corn, comes from Wings Landing Farm down in Preston.

Really good spot.

Um, we can go ahead and try it right now.

RODNEY: From Preston, Maryland?

JAMES: Preston, Maryland.

RODNEY: Yeah.

Do you wanna go first?

JAMES: Nah, you have the first bite.

RODNEY: Oh my god.

JAMES: It's good corn, right?

Let me get some.

RODNEY: Amazing, amazing.

Alright, how about 12 for tonight, please?

JAMES: 12 for tonight, you got it.

RODNEY: Yes, sir.

That 12 there?

JAMES: That's a baker's dozen, one on me.

RODNEY: Alright, thank you, James.

What's up, buddy?

Hey Tim, how are you?

TIM: I'm good, Rodney.

RODNEY: Man, everything's looking great... TIM: Thank you.

RODNEY: That corn panna cotta at the restaurant with the green tomato jam and consommé has taken off, so I'm gonna need some more, you mind if I... TIM: Go ahead, help yourself.

Brought some green tomatoes in this morning.

RODNEY: Great, great, I surely appreciate it.

How's everything with y'all?

TIM: Good, good.

Need some hot peppers to add with that?

RODNEY: Yeah, we can throw a couple in the bag, why not?

Say hello to Caroline for us.

Thank you very much.

Hey Josh.

JOSH: Hey, how are you?

RODNEY: How are you, man?

Got any, uh, crab meat today?

JOSH: I got jumbo lump or backfin.

RODNEY: Okay, uh, local?

JOSH: Local, yeah, coming out of Cambridge, about the middle bay so... it's picked right there and I got it in containers for ya.

Jumbo lump, how many pounds?

RODNEY: Yeah, can I get two pounds of that?

JOSH: Two pounds, yeah.

You guys are good to us, we're good to you.

RODNEY: Yeah, well we can't do it without y'all man.

I greatly appreciate it.

Have a great day.

Tell Amanda I said "hi".

JOSH: I will, I will.

Have a good one.

RODNEY: I got beautiful sweet corn, I have green tomatoes, I have local crab meat, got some flowers for the front host stand.

So I just can't wait to get back in the kitchen putting this awesome dish together, it's going to be amazing.

Welcome to my kitchen here at Watershed Alley.

So, we're going to start with our corn panna cotta base, we're gonna start with some beautiful butter, butter's gonna go in, we're gonna get that started.

Then, once again, the beautiful sweet corn from the Eastern Shore.

One of the things that we like to do is really keep everything in its natural form.

We got the butter, the corn, we're going to do some salt.

And generous with the salt, because the, with the amount of cream that we're adding, it'll go wonderful.

So we're going to go ahead and now add our heavy whipping cream, and we're going to put that in there nice and slowly.

And we're going to start off with a small sauce pot, green tomatoes, just a rough cut, no, nothing special here.

We're gonna go ahead and dump that in, that's the first component.

We're going to stir that, just a little bit in a nice hot pan.

And yes, this is the proper amount of sugar, uh, looks like a lot, but that green tomato is so tart, and this will just soften it up.

So we're going to work that in here, a little bit, right now.

And, aw man, you can smell it.

So we got our green tomatoes, we're going to go ahead and put a little bit in.

So we're going to turn this on, on high, we're basically going to start juicing for the consommé.

You smell that?

Wonderful.

So we're going to go ahead and pour this in, and we're just going to let it come out very, very naturally.

The green tomato jam is working, this will cook down for about 20 to 30 minutes.

It'll get that nice jammy consistency.

But over here, the corn custard base for the corn panna cotta, it's ready, so we're gonna go ahead and take this and we're going to go over to the blender.

We're just going to blend this until it's really nice and creamy, very smooth consistency.

And we're just going to go ahead and fill this up, and then this will take about an hour and a half in your refrigerator.

We're going to go ahead and char the corn.

Just put a little oil on the grill, so then that way you can get the nice char going.

We got a nice char on there, you got the flame going.

So we're going to go ahead and take off a little bit of our corn.

I don't like to go down too deep with this cause then you get all that stringiness.

So look at that beautiful corn, I mean delicious.

We're going to take a little bit of that beautiful once again, local Maryland jumbo lump crab meat, gonna put that in.

Going to hit it now with a little bit of salt.

I use a little avocado oil, at home, use olive oil, whatever you feel comfortable with.

So we're going to toss that.

Little secret ingredient, little Espelette.

Use cayenne, use paprika, um, but that goes well.

So we're gonna mix that in there now.

Once again, beautiful.

And that's our green tomato jam.

Just a little bit, if you like, it put a little bit more.

Voila.

We're going to top it.

And once again, you're doing this at home, enjoy it.

Do as much, as little, as you want, but you do want a little bit of balance so make sure you keep that in mind.

Get plenty of corn, we're going to put in the corn there.

So we're almost there, we're at third base, so we're going to go for the home run now.

Our green tomato consommé.

Aw man, look at that.

Just such a wonderful, beautiful, light summer dish that truly represents Maryland and it's Eastern Shore.

Go to mpt.org/farm recipe is there.

And you can do it at home, I know you can.

You can do it, trust me.

JOANNE: Ooh, I have to give that one a try.

Be sure to check out mpt.org/farm for all our recipes and resources.

Plus you can watch all "Farm and Harvest" episodes there as well.

Also, don't forget to follow us on social media for show updates, pictures, and videos.

Now, hold on, we're not done yet.

Remember our thingamajig?

Did you guess it?

Our hint was Julia Child would've had one of these in her kitchen.

This is a French cut bean slicer.

It mounts on a table, you insert your beans here, crank the handle, and out comes French cut beans, perfectly julienned.

Congratulations if you got it right.

And, if you didn't, well, as Julia Child would say, "Courage!"

Join us next week for another thingamajig, along with more stories about the diverse, passionate people who feed our state.

I'm Joanne Clendining, thanks for watching.

(music plays through credits).

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Major funding for "Maryland Farm and Harvest" is made possible in part by, The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board, investing in smarter farming to support safe and affordable food, feed and fuel, and a healthy Bay.

Additional funding provided by, Maryland's Best, good for you, good for Maryland.

A grant from the Rural Maryland Council, Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Fund.

MARBIDCO, helping to sustain food and fiber enterprise for future generations.

A grant from the Maryland Department of Agriculture, Specialty Crop Block Program.

Farm Credit, lending support to agriculture and rural America.

The Maryland Soy Bean board and Soy Bean Check Off program, progress powered by farmers.

Wegmans Food Markets, healthier, better lives through food.

The Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts.

The Maryland Nursery, Landscape and Greenhouse Association.

The Maryland Farm Bureau Incorporated.

The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment.

Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.

And by... (bird chirps) ♪ ♪