Healthy Soils Field Day on ECO City Farms Urban Farm Incubator with Love Bug Farm

Join the Million Acre Challenge and Future Harvest for a Field Day at ECO City Farms' Urban Farm Incubator at Watkins Regional Park with Love Bug Farm. We'll learn more about farming on community land in an incubator setting with shared infrastructure, limited till systems, equipment choices, cover cropping, and composting.

About ECO City Farms

ECO City Farms is a nonprofit urban teaching and learning farm in Prince George’s County that grows great food, farms and farmers in ways that protect, restore and sustain the natural environment and the health of local communities. Working with area children, youth and adults, ECO educates and trains the next generation of urban farmers and eaters.

The Urban Farm Incubator at Watkins Regional Park is a collaboration among ECO City Farms, the Prince George’s Soil Conservation District (PGSCD), Prince George’s Food Equity Council (FEC), The Capital Market of 20743 at Mary and Main, and the M-NCPPC Parks and Recreation Department. By opening up county land to smaller scale farmers, we aim to provide support for beginning farmers to launch new farm-based businesses in Prince George’s County using regenerative, certified naturally-grown, and organically-grown agricultural best practices.  We offer this next step training ground to help farmers decide whether they have a viable business plan, and to better assess their land and infrastructure needs when they are ready to purchase farmland or rent a plot elsewhere in the future. The Urban Farm Incubator accommodates multiple farmers and provides increased support through common infrastructure, equipment, mentoring, and technical assistance to help launch their businesses successfully.

About Love Bug Farm

Love Bug Farm was started in 2022 when we were offered a ½-acre plot at the Urban Farm Incubator site at Watkins Regional Park in Prince George’s County Maryland. We grow nutrient dense foods using regenerative farming practices that prioritize building soil health and supporting healthy ecosystems.  The majority of our produce is distributed to local families for free through our partnerships with the Capital Area Food Bank, faith-based organizations and schools. Nearly all of our produce is washed, packed and distributed within a day or two of being harvested. 

Farm owner, Maiya Lay, is a graduate of Future Harvest's Beginner Farmer Training program and a participant in the Million Acre Challenge Advanced Urban Farmer Network. Maiya will share more about a project supported by the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants.

Directions:

From Watkins Park Drive, you will see a small road with a brown sign labeled "Watkin's Regional Park: Community Garden Plot" across the street from gate 4 of the church across the street. Follow the signs to the Community Garden Plots. Make a right just before the apiary and you will see a sign for the "Urban Farm Incubator at Watkins Regional Park," just outside the large black gate. Our farm is located on 'Field 1' directly next to the hoop houses.