At peak right now: Oysters, Ramps. Head to a farmers market or your CSA to find them fresh.
Kale in February gets a bad reputation by association. People who tried it in July, when the leaves are thick and slightly acrid and need a good massage just to become edible, assume that's what kale is. But kale grown in Maryland through a hard winter is a different thing to eat, and the reason comes down to what the plant does when the temperature drops.
When cold settles in, kale and other hardy brassicas like collards, Brussels sprouts, and certain mustard greens start converting stored starches into sugars. The sugars lower the freezing point of the liquid inside the plant's cells, which keeps the cells from rupturing when temperatures fall below 32 degrees. It's a survival mechanism, and it works well enough that Lacinato kale, the flat dark variety sometimes called dinosaur or Tuscan kale, can sit in a Maryland field through January with nighttime temperatures in the teens and come back looking mostly fine. Red Russian is another variety that handles cold well and tends to develop a noticeably sweeter flavor after repeated frosts. What the plant is doing to protect itself also makes it considerably more pleasant to eat.
The flavor difference is real and measurable to anyone who pays attention. Summer kale has a raw, almost vegetal bitterness that takes some work to cook through or balance with acid or fat. January kale from a field in Carroll County or the Eastern Shore has a mild sweetness underneath the green flavor, and it doesn't fight you. Collards do the same thing, and many people who farm them in Maryland will tell you they won't harvest them until after the first hard frost for exactly this reason. Brussels sprouts grown on the stalk through November and into December develop a nuttiness that has nothing to do with how you roast them. The cold is doing the work before the vegetable ever gets to your kitchen.
This is one reason winter CSAs and late-season farm markets are worth tracking down. A lot of people assume local produce shuts down when the weather turns, but farms with hoophouse capacity or open field production of cold-hardy crops are often bringing in some of their most flavorful greens of the entire year in December, January, and February. South Mountain Creamery, One Straw Farm in Baltimore County, and several smaller operations around the Eastern Shore have run or partnered on winter shares that include exactly this kind of cold-sweetened produce. Some Saturday markets in Annapolis and Frederick keep running through the cold months with enough vendor participation to make the trip reasonable. If you find kale at one of those markets in late January, grown in Maryland soil and harvested that morning or the day before, it will still have some cold in the stem when you get it home, and the bitterness that makes people dismissive of the vegetable will largely be gone.
A few producers worth knowing about this week.
Strohmer's Farm in Woodstock has been a working farm for three generations, and the Strohmer family has found a way to keep neighbors connected to that history year-round. Beyond meat sales, they host small-group "G.O.A.T. Social" events where visitors spend a full hour with the farm's goats and other animals, with seasonal themes like their St. Patrick's Day edition running March 14 and 15. It's a rare chance to slow down on a real Baltimore County farm rather than a curated agritourism set piece.
Floating Lotus Farmstead is a first-generation operation in White Plains bringing chemical-free vegetables, herbs, eggs, broiler chickens, and Thanksgiving turkeys to CSA members in Charles County. The farm's regenerative approach puts soil health at the center of everything, working to build resilient growing conditions rather than relying on synthetic inputs. If you're looking for a small-scale farm share with that full-pantry range, this one covers a lot of ground.
A&W Country Meats has been a fixture on Middle Street in Taneytown since 1974, operating as an old-school butcher shop where Prime and Choice grades are the floor, not the exception. The shop handles retail and wholesale, offering custom cuts alongside bulk orders of bacon, sausage, burgers, and chicken for restaurants, caterers, and fire companies. Carroll County families have been relying on them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner cuts for over fifty years.
Rocklands Farm Winery in Montgomery County raises grass-fed beef, pastured poultry, pigs, and lamb alongside free-range eggs and organic produce , a full working farm where the food chain is short and visible. Their Saturday farm market lets you buy directly from the people who raised your meat, making it a worthwhile stop for anyone serious about knowing where their food comes from.
Visit website →Redemption Springs Farm in Finksburg raises livestock using regenerative practices rooted in permaculture, including multi-species and rotational grazing on Carroll County land. The farm emphasizes low-stress animal handling , animals are socialized with humans from an early age , based on the principle that calmer animals produce more tender, better-tasting meat. If you're looking for pasture-raised meat from a farm with a clear philosophy behind its methods, Redemption Springs is worth a look.
Prigel Family Creamery on Long Green Road in Glen Arm sources its milk from Bellevale Farm, where cows graze on grass grown from organically managed soils. The creamery is best known for its ice cream, but the farm store also carries fresh milk, cheese, grass-fed beef, and pasture-raised pork. Custom cheese plates and ice cream bars are available for events, making it a useful stop for both weekly staples and special occasions.
Sycamore Spring Farm has been working the same Frederick County land for roughly 300 years, and today it operates as a members-only CSA focused on heritage breed livestock and pasture-based practices. Their free-range, soy-free eggs come from poultry raised alongside cattle, sheep, goats, and rabbits on a diversified homestead at the end of Elmer Derr Road. CSA shares can be picked up at the farm or delivered to Rockville, Gaithersburg, and New Market.
Blackwater Distilling in Stevensville produces Maryland-made spirits using locally sourced ingredients, with a focus on supporting the state's agribusiness community.
Perched on a narrow strip of land between the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay in St. Leonard, Perigeaux Vineyard & Winery grows estate vinifera grapes and bottles them under three distinct labels: Perigeaux, Mackall Road, and Patuxent River. The tasting options reflect that range, from premium estate pours to naturally made wines and sweeter specialty bottles. It's a small-production operation with a setting that does as much work as the wine.
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