Anna Chaney, a 13th-generation Anne Arundel County native, worked in the hospitality industry for decades before she chose farming as a second career. Now owner of Honey's Harvest Farm, she oversees its farmers market, store, events venue, nutrition classes and wellness retreats. Photo courtesy of Honey's Harvest Farm

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Farming “was probably in my DNA from the start,” said Anna Chaney, a 13th-generation Anne Arundel native.

“I grew up on a farm raising vegetables, sweet corn, squash and tomatoes, selling them roadside and learning a solid work ethic.”

Chaney remembers growing and preserving vegetables with her grandmothers, and she felt a strong desire to share those experiences with her own children.

After spending years building a successful hospitality business, Chaney returned to those roots in 2009, when she purchased an old tobacco farm in southern Maryland.

Today, the 159-acre property is home to Honey’s Harvest Farm, a family-run operation that combines farming, a popular farm store, a farmers market and space for weddings and wellness events.

Old-fashioned growing process

A functional nutrition practitioner and certified energy healer with family roots in agriculture, Chaney was inspired to grow healthy food for a living.

“It’s a very rewarding profession. You become sustainable as a human. You know how to source your food,” she said.

In 2009, she and her school-aged son began building permaculture gardens and row gardens, stabilizing their natural ecosystems to grow fruits, vegetables and nut trees in “living soil.” Living soil is not only free of pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers, but is also full of microscopic life.

This farming practice requires the cultivation of bacteria, fungi microarthropods (small, beneficial bugs), arthropods and earthworms. It works the way nature does, with a synergistic relationship between these microbes and the plants. This practice, called regenerative agriculture, provides nutrients to the plants while enhancing the stability and growing potential of the soil. It promotes robust plant growth and increases the nutrient density of the produce.

“Regeneratively growing food and medicine for us is the only way to go because we’re getting one more product per plant than any other type of gardening or agriculture farming, and we’re getting a product that is more nutrient-dense, more healthy, more healing,” Chaney said.

She compares soil health to having a healthy gut microbiome. A person with a healthy gut is better able to absorb the nutrients from the food they eat. Just like humans, plants grown in living soil have stronger innate immune function, allowing them to fend off diseases and pests without chemicals.

Support from the state

Chaney and her family decided to restore natural ecosystems through the Maryland Department of Natural Resources program, which allowed the family to cultivate “food forests” while stabilizing the farm’s steep slopes and previously conventionally farmed fields. The food forest features native varieties including aronia berries, beach plums, hazelnuts, persimmon, paw paws, walnuts, crab apples and more.

In the living-soil beds, Honey’s cultivates medicinal herbs and berries, including elderberries, mullein, peppermint, mallow, wormwood, burdock, dandelion, tulsi (also called holy basil), lemon balm, spilanthes (commonly called “the toothache plant” for its numbing properties) and non-intoxicating hemp to create CBD products.

Their largest vegetable crop is, by far, sweet potatoes. When Chaney’s son discovered that he could grow 100 pounds of sweet potatoes in a 4x4x4 cube of living soil, they knew this would become a healthy staple at Honey’s Harvest Farm.

Farm store builds community

Over the years, Chaney and her family have grown to employ a small team of employees. Their farm team, holistic chef, herbalist, event planner and administrator share a love of the land, nutrient-dense food and a vision of a healthier world. [Ed. Note: Lauren Evoy Davis recently began working at the farm.]

Knowing exactly where your food comes from is increasingly important at a time when food safety and handling are at risk. Perhaps that’s why Chaney has seen an increase in regulars who come to Honey’s Harvest Farm Store each week for fresh eggs, milk, cheese, produce and pasture-raised meats from other local farmers.

“The store brings in people who are seeking connection with like-minded, health-oriented people who value locally produced foods and medicines,” Chaney said.

Chaney’s team shares information, hosts tours and answers questions about their “soil-to-shelf” foods and health products. Chaney herself hosts a seasonal 10-day detox program as well as nutrition classes.

Honey’s has an onsite herbalist, appropriately named Herb Harris, who formulates teas, tinctures and herbal remedies with the farm’s herbs, roots and flowers. Though not FDA-approved, the farm’s herbal remedies are formulated to aid digestion, support sleep and help people get through cold and flu season. These are available online or on site at Honey’s Farm Store.

One popular tincture, named “Magic Bullet,” includes Turkey Tail mushrooms, which some people take when undergoing cancer treatment for their immune system, according to the National Institutes of Health.

One of the farm’s bestsellers is Honey’s flagship offering, Elderberry syrup, which customers say can help soothe respiratory illnesses. Also available in the store is raw, local honey, harvested on the farm and other local apiaries.

When visiting the store, customers can try before they buy. The store offers tastings of tea, elderberry lemonade, syrups, honey and more.

Farmers market, weddings

Honey’s hosts a farmers’ market on the first and third Sunday of each month. Local vendors sell baked goods, microgreens, produce, seafood, pasture-raised meats, farm-fresh eggs, flower bouquets, natural skin care products, charcuterie, wine and spirits, against the backdrop of live jazz music. Kids can play in the inflatable bounce house, and well-behaved dogs are welcome.

Honey’s holistic Chef Rebecca Feldman is front and center, serving hot harvest bowls made from the crops harvested the day before.

In addition to the farmers market, Honey’s also hosts a handful of weddings each year. The restored tobacco barn makes a unique backdrop for wedding receptions and other celebrations.

Chaney’s first company, Herrington on the Bay, in Rose Haven, is a wedding and event venue, so a similar side business was a good fit for the farm. (In fact, she borrowed the name Honey’s from a café she opened at the Herrington Harbor Marina Resort.)

Next to the barn, the original tobacco farmer’s house has been renovated as an overnight wellness center. The light-filled Studio at Honey’s Farmhouse hosts yoga, cooking demonstrations and other health-centric experiences every weekend. The four-bedroom, three-bathroom farmhouse is rented for yoga retreats and other events.

The most gratifying thing about running the farm, according to Chaney, other than working with her three grown kids, is the overwhelmingly positive feedback from visitors.

Just a few nights ago, Chaney said, a woman approached her at a local event and told her, “Thank you for what you’re doing at Honey’s Harvest Farm. I love your farm. I just moved here 18 months ago, and I just am so grateful that you are here for our community.”

Honey’s Harvest Farm hosts a farmers market every first and third Saturday of the month from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Its farm store is open year-round on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., located at 5801 Brooks Woods Rd, Lothian, MD 20711. Some products are available for purchase at honeysharvest.com.

For more information, email info@honeysharvest.com or call (410) 610-9693.