Farmers

As "tractorcade" protests go, the demonstration of farmers and farm vehicles in Annapolis on Tuesday morning was a modest affair with a handful of old-fashioned tractors and some equally well-worn grievances. The timetable may have been a little off, too, since the protesters' collective ire was directed at a law that the General Assembly passed last year. Nevertheless, the group of farmers assembled at the State House to support legislation that would repeal the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012 - or, as most people know it, Gov. Martin O'Malley's septics bill.

Farmers and others upset over state-imposed restrictions on septic-based rural development staged a "tractorcade" Tuesday past the State House in Annapolis. The protest comes on the day the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear a bill, SB391 , which would repeal the Sustainable Growth and Agricultural Preservation Act of 2012 . The law, introduced by Gov. Martin O'Malley and passed last year over rural lawmakers' objections, restricts large-scale housing development that would rely on septic systems.

A recent article reported a serious problem in the implementation of Maryland's agricultural nutrient management program, which was designed to help protect the Chesapeake and coastal bays from agricultural pollution by requiring farmers to submit manure and fertilizer management plans to the state ("State's oversight of farms criticized," Feb. 3). I was concerned to read that 30 percent or 40 percent of the plans Maryland's Department of Agriculture audits are found to be non-compliant and that only about 10 percent of the farms are checked.

The lawsuit may be over, but the bitter legal battle continues. Lawyers for poultry producer Perdue and an Eastern Shore farmer are asking a federal judge to award them more than $3 million in attorneys' fees and expenses from the Waterkeeper Alliance, the New York-based environmental group that failed to prove they were polluting a Chesapeake Bay tributary. Pointing to written comments by the deciding judge that were critical of the plaintiffs' motives and the strength of their case, the successful defendants contend they're justified in seeking reimbursement for a case they argued should never have gotten that far. "It's only fair," said Julie DeYoung, spokeswoman for the Salisbury-based company.

With all the time and effort devoted to the new downtown for Columbia, many good ideas and plans have resulted. I hope similarly good plans for Symphony Woods will result from the stakeholder discussions, hearings and multistep approval process currently ongoing. As a seven-year homeowner here, I have not figured out how to "officially" air an idea for the new downtown/Symphony Woods, which heretofore I've not heard raised: I've spent some time in Durham, N.C., and witnessed firsthand the substantial benefits of the farmers market operating each weekend from April through September in its own, unelaborate but well-sized, purpose-built pavilion constructed in their downtown.

At first glance, a grass-roots farmers' market in the covered parking lot of a suburban mall seems a bit incongruous. But that's the charm, and convenience, of the Westfield Annapolis Winter Farmers' Market, held every other Sunday at Westfield Annapolis Mall from January into April. Patrons can park their car, pop into Macy's to buy a Gucci handbag or designer sweater, then walk across the lot and stock up on potatoes, turnips, cabbage, eggs and chicken, or enjoy a bowl of homemade Italian chicken and vegetable soup.

Yes, the Baltimore Farmers' Market is done for the season. It won't be back until April 7. But you get fresh eggs from the Hen's Nest all winter long. The New Windsor farm will be bringing cartons and cases of its brown and white eggs down to Baltimore every other week Saturday beginning Jan. 5, making three stops around the city. The first stop, from 8 a.m.-9 a.m., will be at the parking lot of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, 1400 W. Coldspring Lane. Then, the truck will head east, to 3700 Dillon St., near the Natty Boh sign, where it will park on the parking lot in front of the Push 511 crossfit gym from 9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. From noon-1 p.m., you can get Hen's Nest eggs at the Park & Ride off Rolling Road (Route 166)

From the line at Zeke's Coffee beneath the Jones Falls Expressway Sunday morning, Misty Letz was doling out hugs and Christmas tidings. "Saddest day of the year," she said before reaching across the counter to embrace a barista. Letz had risen early to cram in a final trip to the Baltimore Farmers' Market before it closed its 36th season and left her and more than 5,000 other patrons without their weekly fix of fresh produce, treats and community. "You get to know these people," said Letz, 50. "I'll miss them.

The Baltimore Farmers' Market and Bazaar wraps up its 35th season on Sunday. You won't find peaches and blueberries, but farmers will be loading up their stands with winter vegetables like beets, carrots, cauliflower and kohlrabi, all perfect for throwing into a winter soup. (The Baltimore Promotion Office of Promotion and the Arts has a recipe for winter soup on its website.) You can load up on meats to throw put in Christmas recipes or put in your freezer. Vendors will be selling seasonal and holiday decorations available, including Christmas trees, garlands, gourds, ornaments and wreaths.

Ruling in a bitterly contested case with national ramifications, a federal judge found Thursday that the Waterkeeper Alliance failed to prove that an Eastern Shore farm's chicken houses were polluting a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. U.S. District Court Judge William M. Nickerson declared in a 50-page opinion that the New York-based environmental group had not established in a two-week trial in October that waste from chicken houses owned by...