TikTok Tuesday: Farm Tour

@wdcgardener

A summer visit to the UMD Central Maryland Research and Education Center in Upper Marlboro, MD. ##gardendc ##farmtour ##hayride ##agresearch

♬ original sound - Kathy Jentz

By Molly Cuddy

Two weeks ago, Jackie, one of the other summer interns, and I went to the Central Maryland Research and Education Center (CMREC) Upper Marlboro Farm for the Twilight Tour and Ice Cream Social. The farm is part of the University of Maryland extension, and is 30 minutes from campus. 

The night started off with an ice cream social, where we were able to get some homemade vanilla ice cream. It was super good and a great treat in the summer humidity. 

Then, we loaded onto the four tractors they had for the event, and took a hayride around the farm facilities. Both agricultural students and professors from UMD, as well as employees from the farm, all presented on what they have been growing and even gave out informative papers about their findings. We even got some free flowers and I was able to take home some delicious tomatoes that were grown on the farm.

It was a wonderful night! The weather was perfect, and the sunset over the farm was gorgeous. If you’re in the area, and they ever do a farm hayride tour again, I would absolutely recommend going! You can check out my TikTok here to get a feel of what the farm tour was like.

This is also my last ever TikTok Tuesday, as my internship with Washington Gardener is coming to an end. I hope you all have enjoyed my blog posts and TikToks as much as I enjoyed making them every week!

About the Author

Molly Cuddy is a journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park, and an intern this summer with Washington Gardener. She is also a campus tour guide and will be a teaching assistant for a professional writing class next semester.

DIY: Natural Bug Spray

Last weekend, we visited Tusculum Farm in Laytonsville, MD, on the Montgomery County Farm and Harvest Tour. The activities included working with essential oils, including making your own "natural" bug spray to ward off ticks and mosquitos. Here is the easy recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz. distilled water 
• 2 oz. pure witch hazel or vodka
• 20 drops lemongrass essential oil
• 20 drops eucalyptus essential oil
• 10 drops geranium essential oil
• 1 4 oz. size empty metal spray container

Steps:

Add the water and witch hazel to the container, then slowly add in the essential oil drops so you don't spill or lose count. Screw on the container cap.  Make a label and apply it to the container. Shake it up. Spray on ankles and rub in.

The verdict is still out on whether the spray is truly effective or not, but it smells good to us! 

This is a monthly blog series on DIY projects for the beginning home gardener. Look for the other installments in this DIY blog series by putting "DIY" in the search box here at washingtongardener.blogspot.com.