Plent y
summer growing Season • 2025
FEATURES
4 New Law Eases Path for Solar in the Ag Reserve Farmers say agriculture now threatened by high prices solar companies pay to lease land by steven findlay
9 Tina Thieme Brown From environmental activist to visual chronicler of the Agricultural Reserve by wib middleton
DEPARTMENTS
18 From the Ground Up Sisters’ Ancestral Roots Run Deep into the Soil by amanda cather
26 An Eye for Beauty Fascinating Fungi by carolyn thome
14 For Sydney’ s Sake Old buildings create new connections while maintaining links to the past by paul tukey
22 The General Store Lives on with the Poole Family
by melane kinney hoffann
39 The Promise of Growing Grapes in Montgomery County What makes a site suitable for production?
by dr. joe fiola
44 Say Cheese! Bluffing Goat Farm launches goat cheese operation in the Agricultural Reserve
28 Out in Nature Finding Your Way Back to Nature
by alika middleton
34 Wild Thing The State of Things with Our Feathered Friends
by genevieve wall
38 Poetry Corner by gene kinsbury
49 Treasures of the Reserve Savoring the Summer in the Ag Reserve
by sarah rogers by wib middleton
publisher i managing editor & design Jane Perini publisher i staff writer & photography Wib Middleton
PLENTY, Summer Growing Issue 2025. Plenty is published three times a year by Thunder Mountain Publishing LLC. It is distributed free of charge in many Montgomery County, MD locations as well as locations in Frederick. © 2025 by Thunder Mountain Publishing LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. • www. plenty-agmag. com • 301.527.2295