Acre

The Cape Cod-style home appears to have been dropped into the middle of a beautiful copse of trees among several acres of landscaping. Copper maple trees fill the front yard with shade while behind the property a stone-floored patio is cloaked in trellises covered with mature grape and jasmine vines. Beyond the patio are blueberry and raspberry bushes, as well as blackberry, red currant and black raspberry plantings. Two fenced-in gardens sit among tulip, yellow poplar, red maple and oak trees, the latter hung with tire swings.

Aelred Geis tried to make the world better for birds and people, in that order. He studied ways to coax birds back into urban areas, helped persuade Jim Rouse to set aside 1,000 acres of prime Howard County real estate for a nature preserve, turned his Clarksville farm into a wildlife sanctuary and not only built a better bird feeder, but also filled it with superior seed that he developed. Geis could be loud and confrontational with a touch of arrogance when the circumstances warranted it, his friends fondly remember.

Howard County's agricultural preservation program committed over the past two years to buy development rights to more than 1,000 acres of farmland, as a slow housing market helped boost landowners' interest in the easements. The county announced last week that all of the money in the program has been spoken for, and said a continued down market will likely slow the process of collecting enough to protect more land. The Agricultural Land Preservation Program - funded through real estate transfer taxes - allows agricultural property owners to apply for easements that would "extinguish the development rights and limit the use of the land," said program administrator Joy Levy.

ADVERTORIAL CONTENT “The pupils were to learn because they were interested, because they loved their work, because they loved the school, because they were inspired by the highest type of teacher, because they saw the reason of things.” Since 1912, these ideals have guided The Park School, a pre-kindergarten through 12, co-ed, independent school in Baltimore County where children learn to think. You are invited to see for yourself why Park has earned its outstanding reputation for academic excellence and innovation.

Maryland has enrolled a record 550,000 acres of farmland in the state's winter cover crop program, the state announced Tuesday. The project pays farmers to plant small grains in the fall to reduce the erosion of soil and harmful nutrients into the Chesapeake Bay. In all, a record 1,767 farmers have signed acreage up for the coming winter, including 206 who are enrolled for the first time, according to the state Department of Agriculture. "Over the years we've made the program more attractive," said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance.

County committee's vote hands Reaching Hearts another delay The Prince George's County Council dealt another setback last week to a Seventh-day Adventist congregation that has been trying to build a church in West Laurel for nearly a decade. On June 23, the council's Committee on Transportation, Housing and Environment voted 4-0 against changing a water permit category, a change that would have lifted restrictions on the development of a 17-acre parcel by allowing the church to connect to the county's sewer and water lines.

Surrounded by clusters of trees and tall grasses, the community garden on Woodland Avenue provides Mary Waller with a serene, pastoral view from her wide front porch, less than half a mile from the Pimlico Race Course . But only a few of Waller's neighbors are left to enjoy it. Her side of the street is lined with rowhouses long abandoned and left to deteriorate, a lasting reminder of how her block in Northwest Baltimore has languished since...

The Howard County Board of Education on Tuesday approved a new site to be considered for construction of an elementary school in Elkridge, giving an alternative to a previously proposed site that raised concerns about proximity to a MARC rail commuter line and a proposed CSX rail cargo transfer station. The new site, on Ducketts Lane adjacent to U.S. 1, is 10.1 acres and will include space for a ball field and multipurpose field. Howard school officials said a permit is required from the state Department of the Environment and the Army Corps of Engineers to fill in wetlands.

ADVERTORIAL CONTENT Severn's central Maryland location allows for easy commutes to Baltimore, Washington or Annapolis, and the suburban community is friendly and inviting. With the introduction of Woodberry by Ryan Homes, Severn is a place where homebuyers can enjoy the convenient location, without the premium price. Homebuyers can find large, spacious cul-de-sac homesites backing to woods on 1/3 - 1/2-acre. Woodberry offers buyers an affordable price without having to sacrifice space or convenience.

On a bright spring afternoon, Denzel Mitchell tugs clumps of purple-flowered chickweed from tidy rows of spinach. An earthworm wriggles through clumps of dark, crumbling soil under his fingers. His business partner, Michael Singleton, stoops over a bed of pansies nearby, plucking the bright blossoms to take to a bakery. While the local food movement has spurred the growth of small farms across the state, Mitchell's Five Seeds Farm is in an unlikely spot: a corner lot in the Belair-Edison neighborhood of Baltimore.