Plant by Plant Her Future Grows

Story and photos by Andrea Haines

As you pull into the lane at Moon Valley Farm in Woodsboro, Maryland, you are immediately taken by the colorful fields, greenhouses and happily painted delivery truck. It’s peaceful — there’s no machinery running, just the low humming of pollinators flying from bloom to bloom, and the light chatter of farm workers out in the fields. A welcoming feeling and sense of community is present upon visiting.

“This is what people see when we do a ‘walk through’ with customers,” shares Emma Jagoz, first-generation owner of Moon Valley. The organic farm stocks the shelves of over 75 restaurants and provides fresh produce to over severalhundred Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) members gathered between individuals, families and restaurants in D.C. and Maryland. “We also offer plant sales for gardeners,” explains Emma. “Our CSA is made up of individuals, families and friends who are foodies, environmentalists, and parents who want to eat healthy and organically, support a woman-owned business, and know where their food comes from.”

The farm sells to many restaurant customers, including Michelin Star restaurants and James Beard award nominees, among other accolades. “We grow for restaurants of all sizes from tiny bars, to catering businesses, cafes, and busy 400-plus seat hotels. For our gardeners, we grow robust, organic seedlings for folks with balcony gardens in the cities, to people with large suburban or rural gardens, as well as community gardens and other small farms.”

Emma is no stranger to small spaces; she began her farm in 2012 as a CSA and the following year began selling to restaurants. “I started farming on a half-acre of land on my parents’ property in the suburbs of Baltimore,” she shares. “I wanted to expand beyond that half-acre, so I started bartering with neighbors for the use of their land [sometimes neighboring yards]. Fast forward and I was bartering for 15 acres of certified-organic land by the end of 2019. Later that year, I purchased land of my own in Woodsboro, Frederick County, Maryland, and we now farm on 25 acres.”

As a first-generation agriculturalist, Emma has planted seeds within her two children on the business practices, solidifying a promising future for the farm made possible by her hard work. “My kids are 10 and 11 years old. They’ve known nothing but the farm and are definitely interested in the business.” Even Emma’s office is adorned with the reminder of the future, with hand-drawn Crayola masterpieces of each employee depicted as a superhero hanging from a warmly-glowing string of lights, a thank you but also subtle reminder of the farm’s purpose of feeding future generations.

Emma gets a lot of support from her community, but there are stereotypical challenges to overcome, too. “Being a woman-owned business, I’ve encountered countless situations in which people assume that I’m not the owner or farmer, or that I inherited the farm, or that I’m the ‘actual’ farmer’s wife. People will look at a male colleague or employee for direction or guidance instead of asking me.”

The stereotype is progressively changing within agriculture as farmers like Emma continue to gather support and awareness. “I do get a lot of support from women-run households – women or mothers buying for their families, who are excited to support a local, woman-run business,” she shares. “Additionally, as a 100 percent woman-owned business, I am able to apply for certain loans or grants as a minority-owned business, which can help provide opportunities for business growth.”

Emma made the decision to move forward with a CSA program instead of participating in farmers’ markets due to the workload that going to markets would have required. “The CSA model has been the core of our farm from the beginning. The CSA allows us to focus on growing crops instead of constantly marketing our veggies and hoping that we can get them sold every week of the season. Our members are the backbone of our farm today just as they were from the start. We couldn’t do this without them,” expresses Emma. The farm is also adding a few wholesale accounts including local schools and prisons.

“I do get a lot of support from women-run households – women or mothers buying for their families, who are excited to support a local, woman-run business.”

“We have about 15 employees,” shares Emma. “Since 2016, we’ve sold year-round to restaurants and in 2021, we debuted our year-round CSA. We are trying to elevate the diversity we have available in the winter months so that we can keep more customers eating local, and employees working in the ‘off-season’.” Emma is playing a part in “localizing” the food system, changing the way people eat to be based on Mid-Atlantic grown fare.

As the farm continually grows, Emma has gained a relationship with Farm Credit. “They understand farmers in a way that no other bank that I’ve worked with does,” shares Emma. “It’s very relieving to work with a lender who understands the cash flows of different farm operations, the value of farmland, and the types of accounts that farmers like me work on.”

“We’ve been working with Emma on requests to improve some of the infrastructure on the farm,” explains Kelsey Maslen, Farm Credit loan officer. “I was impressed with how clearly Emma laid out her request. She always does extensive research on the costs for her different needs and can also really articulate how investing in these areas would improve her farm.”

Kelsey describes Emma as passionate and driven. “She just has this great positive energy, and is excited about the work she is doing,” Kelsey highlights.

“This year, we’re growing over 30 varieties of peppers, over 20 varieties of winter squash, 15 varieties of tomatoes, eight types of basil, eight types of thymes, six eggplant types, and a dozen of specialty potatoes,” shares Emma. “It’s so fun to grow different varieties, it gives us diversity as a bit of resilience to different weather types and flavors. We also aggregate from several local farms to expand our offerings to include gourmet mushrooms, fruit, grains, beans, eggs, and more. We want our customers to have access to the ‘coolest’ and most delicious produce that the MidAtlantic region has to offer all year.”

As an organic farm, from the start, Emma utilized organic practices, adopting those detailed in books by Eliot Coleman. “We became certified organic in 2018, which was a big challenge for us as we were farming six sites and had to create a plan for each site,” Emma explains. “Our new farm was used for conventional growing before purchase, so we are two years into a three-year transition period now, considered ‘transitionally organic’ until the summer of 2022. It’s important to me to use organic practices for the health of our bodies, soils, and watershed.”

Emma treads the path for future generations in this concept, “I would recommend that a future farmer or business owner get several years of experience farming on the scale that they’re interested in at the time. Additionally, work for someone who sells to a customer base that’s the same as your ideal customer base.”

Emma is a self-taught farmer but has gained a ton of experience through others’ teachings. “I’ve learned from books, soil scientists, businesspersons, and environmentalists. Mentors and other farmers in the region learned from making mistakes and just doing ‘the thing’, growing food relentlessly for people,” she says.

Kelsey and the team at Farm Credit are looking forward to seeing how Emma continues to grow. “She is incredibly adaptable,” says Kelsey. “In managing her own farm, she serves not only in the role of the farmer, but also business development, human resources, IT, marketing and more, while also being a mother and finding ways to serve the community through the produce she grows.”

To learn more about Moon Valley Farm, visit them on the web at moonvalleyfarm.net or on Instagram: @moonvalleyfarm and Facebook: @moonvalleybaltimore