JOANNE: From the Appalachian highlands to the coastal lowlands, Maryland agriculture is on full display.

Did you know, there's an annual festival where you can let off some steam?

It takes around 30,000 seeds to plant one acre of corn?

And a farmer's market yields unusual finds.

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

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... (theme music plays).

JOANNE: Farming techniques and equipment are in a constant state of innovation.

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

No one knows more about keeping up with the latest innovations more than the folks here at Holloway Brothers Farms.

They are one of the state's top grain producers and working over 2,000 acres they need equipment they can depend on.

And, they're not alone.

Coming up, a family farm that devised an innovative way to sell their annual harvest.

But first, innovation is necessary to keep us moving forward into the future.

But sometimes it's nice to reflect on our past.

I had an amazing time at Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Show where the antique tractors will blow your mind, and maybe an eardrum or two.

♪ ♪ For the past 50 years, there's been an event in Talbot County that's allowed folks to let off a little, steam.

(steam engine hissing).

Welcome to the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Festival.

60 acres dedicated to preserving the modern marvels of 19th and 20th-century agricultural equipment and all-around farm life.

For four days every summer you can find everything and anything.

And that's what's left.

From garden tractors to steam tractors and steam-driven tools; from workhorses to horsepower, American classics of all shapes and sizes.

MAN: 1938, it was my grandfather's, it wasn't sentimental to him but it has become sentimental to me.

JOANNE: It's just that feeling that brought a few folks together back in 1973 to preserve Eastern Shore's farming history.

TOM: When we started I don't think any of us had an idea of how big it was gonna get.

JOANNE: Tom Booze was one of 50-plus volunteers that started it all.

TOM: There were families here that had family-owned steam engines from the beginning and everybody got together and started collecting others, just to preserve the Eastern Shore and really other areas and we're, we're tickled to death.

We've had generations come here, not just members but just visitors, their parents came, they came, now their kids have come and then, so it's very, very rewarding, it really is.

JOANNE: Today they have over 12 buildings, housing thousands of engines, machinery, tools, and collectibles.

Wow, this is thingamajig heaven.

This is a farm dog-powered butter churn.

The dog would walk here on the treadmill, here we have our belt, and then the butter churn was here.

I mean in the early days, no one had it easy on the farm.

ANDY: You walk in here and it's happiness.

JOANNE: Andy Koch is Tuckahoe's president and helped get the Rural Life Museum started.

So cool.

ANDY: I mean there's so much that you can see, people really enjoy coming in, they'll look at something, "Oh I remember that," "I remember my grandmother had one those," and we even have a shoemakers shop that we added a few years ago and it's just like so much that people can enjoy.

Some were donated outright, it just kept adding, and adding, and adding.

JOANNE: Alright, I think this is the perfect time for a thingamajig.

♪ ♪ Here's a hint, it's electric.

As usual, stay tuned and we'll have the answer at the end of the show, but right now, I've got work to do.

What I like about this place is that the evolution of Maryland agriculture is on display.

Take grain harvesting, farmers harvested by hand for thousands of years, then the thresher was invented.

Add a little horsepower and bam, increased crop yield.

This is true horsepower.

ERIK: Real horsepower.

JOANNE: For people you know, who like, "Oh, well something's horse-powered" this is where it came from, right?

ERIK: So we've got five horses hooked to a horse sweep we call it.

That machine was built probably right after the Civil War.

JOANNE: Erik Harvey is a Tuckahoe volunteer, his father was a founding member.

And when he's not driving his 1923 Model TT Ford, he's cutting shingles, or like today, stepping me through threshing history.

ERIK: Prior to this machine, which is an automatic machine, the farmer, and all of his help would have had to use this piece, this is a flail.

They would have had to hold on to the handle and swing it.

JOANNE: Let me get out of the way here!

ERIK: Yeah.

And swing it at the sheaf of wheat.

JOANNE: Wow.

ERIK: The wheat sheaf that we were handling would have had to been smacked on the ground in the barn to beat the shaft out of the head, all hand powered.

JOANNE: Now, ok, so what we just did there?

ERIK: Mm-hm.

JOANNE: How long would that have taken with a flail?

ERIK: Oh, an hour.

JOANNE: An hour?

ERIK: Yeah.

JOANNE: And we were there for what, like five minutes?

ERIK: We were here about five minutes.

About 10 seconds worth of work in a modern combine.

That was it.

JOANNE: That's amazing.

ERIK: Yeah.

JOANNE: I mean, what a time saver.

Soon, steam engines replaced horses at harvest, dropping the harvest time of an acre of grain from 23 hours in 1850, to just eight hours in 1900.

Phew, it's amazing how technology has changed farming over the years.

But one thing remains the same, farming is hard work.

But thanks to the countless volunteers with the Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association, Marylanders have a place to experience the evolution of the farm and technologies that not only built the Eastern Shore, but our nation.

Well, my time here is up, but I am rolling out in style.

When you come, be sure to stick around for the bands, the chicken dinner, and the parade.

Let's roll Butch.

♪ ♪ In 2011, The Tuckahoe Steam and Gas Association received the Talbot County Historical Society's Prestigious Heritage Award, in recognition to their commitment to preserving Talbot County's heritage.

And did you know, the very first steam-powered farm tractor was purportedly built in 1860 by Henry G. Stone?

It was called "The Iron Monster" and although it ran it proved impractical for farm use.

Whether an antique, the latest and greatest, or somewhere in between, we're all proud of our farm rides.

Here are some pics of your favorite tractors and combines from our "Farm Photos of the Week" Enjoy.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ The global agricultural seed market is a whopping $58 billion industry, and one family farm in Dorchester County knew that to grow, they had to sell the seeds they sowed.

DOUGLAS: What seed do you want to get today?

JASON: Looks like we need to load four boxes of 25R40, right in this row here.

DOUGLAS: Alright, I'll get the forklift.

Jason's a great manager, I've learned that he's a better manager than I am, I kind of almost work for him.

JOANNE: Doug Scott's handed over the books.

30 years ago he started a hybrid seed dealership.

Now his son Jason runs all of the operations on their 1600-acre Walnut Hill Farms in Dorchester County.

This morning, Jason's loading soft red winter wheat seeds to deliver to one of his customers.

JASON: We have about 100 customers and we work in three counties; Dorchester, most of Talbot County, and then a small part of Caroline County.

JOANNE: The seed business gives him the opportunity to work with local farmers but he also has a global impact, he's Vice Chairman of the U.S.

Wheat Association and has traveled to South Africa, Europe, and Guatemala to represent U.S. wheat growers internationally.

JASON: I think it's good to actually get out there as a farmer and meet the people that are buying our product.

They really enjoy seeing U.S. wheat employees, they enjoy it even more when they have farmers with them so they can actually see the person that's growing the wheat that they buy, that they then mill and then put into the bread or whatever product they're making with the wheat.

JOANNE: He heads out to make the first delivery of the day, while his father harvests soybeans.

Managing Walnut Hill, running the seed business, and representing wheat growers abroad requires a good partnership.

DOUGLAS: It's been a really good relationship, we get along good, he's my best friend, my best advisor and I enjoy the relationship.

JASON: Hey, I just got to the field, you see me on the end?

Is this where you wanted to do the yield check?

JOANNE: Time for a yield check.

Jason gets a check of how many beans per acre his soybean seed yielded here.

It's important data his buyers use to predict how many bushels an acre they'll grow when they plant his seeds on their own farms.

JASON: We can go to a customer and tell that customer, this is exactly what your corn, soybeans, wheat, whatever they're harvesting, is yielding in a particular location.

JOANNE: The first step in a yield check is to measure the weight of the soybeans to determine their quality.

The average weight of a bushel of soybeans is 60 pounds.

A poor-quality crop, or one with disease, will have a low test weight.

JASON: And this is basically just gonna tell me the weight of one bushel of this particular variety, which looks like it's gonna come out to around 59.

JOANNE: That's about right.

Next, Jason prepares to check how dry the beans are.

JASON: Basically we'll just take a small sample of the soybeans, tighten the top up on this tester until that's even, set on soybeans and you just push "test."

JOANNE: Three rounds of moisture testing later, the average... JASON: We're gonna go with 12.87, sounds like.

Dry for soybeans is 13%, that's typical for what we would expect, we have a nice beautiful sunny day with a lot of wind so they typically would get dry.

JOANNE: Finally the weight and plot measurements are calculated into the formula.

Jason's most useful tool is his cell phone.

JASON: And then my measurements for measuring the plot, I put on my phone here.

I don't know how people used to farm without a cell phone.

JOANNE: Right now, they're harvesting soybeans for sale, but their test plots go through the same yield check process.

JASON: So if this were actually a plot, we would probably have 10, 15 soybean varieties out here and we would do this same exact process for every single variety.

JOANNE: Checking the yield of every new crop is a tedious but necessary process.

DOUGLAS: The seed business has become so complex with new technologies and new varieties over the years that it's really hard for an individual farmer to keep up with all the trends.

JOANNE: That's where the Scotts come in, helping farmers select the right variety of seeds to make their land more profitable.

Jason Scott has served on several agricultural association boards and was honored with the James R. Miller Award for his accomplishments and dedication to Maryland's grain industry.

Did you know, most wheat and soybean seeds sold in Maryland is protected by either U.S. Patent Law or the Plant Variety Protection Act?

These protections limit or prohibit the age-old practice of "Farmer Saved Seed."

Coming up, unusual farmer's market finds inspire Chef Shalia.

But first, some of the oldest and most iconic barns in Maryland are no longer in service.

Here's a look back at an agriculture era and the barns that made it possible, on this week's "Then and Now."

Settlers arrived in Maryland in 1634 and soon after established a tobacco-growing colony like their Virginian neighbors.

It was found to be the highest-paying crop per acre.

Plantations were built along with tobacco barns and for nearly 370 years this cash crop was essential to a robust economy, so where do tobacco barns come in?

They're used for air curing, the final stage of the growing process.

Tobacco leaves hang dry for a couple of months.

The oldest surviving tobacco barn is the Mackall Barn in historic St. Mary's City, dating back to 1785.

But in 2001, the tobacco blaze that once ignited the American market was extinguished.

Lawsuits, changing environmental policies, and health risks initiated a government buyout.

A plan that encouraged farmers to stop growing the crop.

Over 1,000 farmers still grew tobacco before the buyout, now there are around 100.

According to "Preservation Maryland," about 5,000 barns are left in Southern Maryland.

In a smoke-less world, the remaining barns have been transformed into wineries, visitor centers, horse stables, galleries, a leather store, and more.

The barns weather on, but Maryland-grown tobacco is largely sold overseas.

On this week's "Farm to Skillet" Chef Shalia Coburn discovers unique ingredients for her Asian-influenced seafood dish.

♪ ♪ SHALIA: Hi folks, I'm Chef Shalia of Chef B Meals, I am going to prepare for you all one of my favorite seafood dishes with an Asian flair, but first we are here at the Bethesda Central Farmer's Market, we're gonna grab all of our ingredients, so let's go!

TAKO: Hey Chef, how're you doing?

SHALIA: I'm good, how are you doing?

TAKO: Good, what you got cooking up today?

SHALIA: Well today I'm going to do some, like my favorite seafood dish, maybe you can help me out.

TAKO: I can definitely help you out.

SHALIA: I'm sure you can.

TAKO: So the first thing I'm going to start you off with is the Jimmy Nardello pepper.

SHALIA: Wow, these are beautiful.

TAKO: They are beautiful and it is arguably the very best sweet pepper you will ever eat.

SHALIA: Ok. TAKO: Arguably.

SHALIA: I wanna put you to the test.

TAKO: Alright, well here, you take these.

SHALIA: Thank you.

TAKO: Um, it's just the right color right there.

SHALIA: I think I'm gonna need a nice garnish, you have any like microgreens or anything?

TAKO: Oh, I do have some microgreens.

SHALIA: You do?

TAKO: Let me show you the celestial salads.

SHALIA: Alright.

TAKO: So the broad leaf in there, that is a borage, it tastes just like cucumber.

We've got Purple Sango Radish, we've got Red Veined Sorrel, we've got Purple Kohlrabi, Red Acre Cabbage.

SHALIA: Beautiful and all of these are Asian-inspired greens.

TAKO: Indeed.

SHALIA: These are beautiful, thank you, I appreciate it.

TAKO: You're quite welcome.

SHALIA: Good to see you.

(indistinct chatter).

Hi.

VENDOR: Hey, how's it going, Chef?

What brings you in today?

So today I'm preparing an Asian-inspired seafood dish but I'm not really sure which fish I'm gonna use, I want something locally sourced.

VENDOR: I've got a couple different options for you.

SHALIA: Ok.

VENDOR: I've have some beautiful, beautiful Black Sea bass, some flounder as well.

SHALIA: Ok.

VENDOR: And then some rockfish, local from Maryland.

SHALIA: I think I'm gonna go with the bass because I want to prepare the skin crispy.

VENDOR: Gotcha.

SHALIA: And I know that the bass crisps up really nice.

VENDOR: Sounds great.

SHALIA: OK, great, thank you.

VENDOR: Here's the Thai Basil, they're freshly picked yesterday.

SHALIA: Ok.

VENDOR: They smell good and there still fresh right now.

SHALIA: Wow, look at these daikons, they're so beautiful.

And this is purple daikon and white daikon correct?

VENDOR: Yes, yes.

SHALIA: So when I shave the purple daikon will it still be purple on the inside?

VENDOR: It's a mix between purple and white.

SHALIA: Oh, beautiful.

I'm always like a kid in a candy store every time I come to a farmer's market, but I think we have everything we need so let's go get cooking.

♪ ♪ We have a bounty of items that we got from the farmer's market.

So let's get started with our Asian slaw.

We're gonna start by julienning our Jimmy Nardello peppers, gonna add that into our slaw which is looking colorful, delicious, and beautiful.

We're gonna move on to our carrots and to our daikon, now for these we're actually going to use a mandolin, one of my favorite tools to use in the kitchen.

The key to a mandolin is to hold it flat on a surface and pray about it so that you don't cut your fingers.

Look at that, gorgeous.

Look at this Thai basil, and oh my gosh, mmm, it smells so good.

We're gonna start chopping, we're gonna do a chiffonade, a chiffonade is simply a very fine julienne, with extra precision and love.

Look at that, beautiful.

Beautiful.

And I like to cut my scallions on a bias.

So last but not least, we're going to make a freestyle version of a vinaigrette.

Go ahead and sprinkle some sugar in here, we have rice vinegar, gluten-free soy sauce, and my secret weapon which is sesame oil, I put it on every Asian dish whether it belongs or not.

Now, we're gonna toss our ingredients once more.

We're gonna let sit for a moment and everything mold together and then we'll start on our fish.

We're gonna cut it on a bias and we're gonna cut three slits through it but only through the skin, nice light score.

(pan sizzling).

Look at that, nice and crispy, gorgeous.

When I cook scallops, I like to give them a nice spin around the pan to make sure that they don't stick, and look at that beautiful brown color we have there, gorgeous.

Look at what we have here, the inspiration behind this dish is just fresh and local, this is something that is colorful, full of flavor, and you can literally cook this in 30 minutes or less.

So here you have it, our beautiful, crispy sea bass, scallops, Asian slaw, visit mpt.org/farm for the recipe and now I have to have a taste.

Guys, seriously, you have to try this recipe.

Thank you so much for letting me cook with you all today and I'll see you next time.

JOANNE: 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, it's electric.

This is the glass ball off a lightning rod.

It slides over the rod, like this.

It's believed that as lightning travels down the rod, the glass balls would shatter, providing evidence to the homeowner of a strike.

Yet another theory is that the glass ball would keep stray electrical arcs at bay.

Congratulations if you got it right.

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.

(steam engine whistles).

♪ ♪ (steam engine whistles).

(music plays through credits).

NARRATOR: Major funding for "Maryland Farm and Harvest" was 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... (steam engine whistles).