Farm to Table: Shlagel Farms

There are only about seven to 10 days left in the “pick your own” strawberry season, according to farmer Russ Shlagel of Shlagel Farms in Waldorf, Md. But if you can’t travel to Charles County, then how about stopping by the Greenbelt Farmers Market on Sunday?

Sweet, succulent strawberries, English peas and sweet cherries are just a few of the offerings this week from a family who prides itself on celebrating a century of farming.

“We are pretty proud of her [the farm] this year as she turns 100,” Shlagel said.

A former tobacco farm, the land was originally purchased in 1911 by Shlagel’s grandfather, Otto, who entered the U.S. through Ellis Island in 1906. In 1988, about a decade before the state’s tobacco buyout program began, Shlagel and his wife, Eileen, and their five children, decided to move towards growing vegetables. In 1999, they planted 5,000 strawberries plants because they believed there would be a good demand for a “pick your own” option.

Today, their farm on Shlagel Road is home to a 6-acre strawberry patch (not your typical plot) that draws pickers from surrounding cities and towns, and provides patrons of Maryland and Virginia farmers markets with berries that, according to Shlagel, benefited from the early spring’s ideal weather conditions.

Strawberries, Peas and Tomatoes, Oh My!

But this is no ordinary berry patch. These are plasticulture strawberries, plants grown on raised beds covered with plastic and utilizing drip irrigation, which warms the soils, improves water drainage and increases air movement.

Shlagel said that he has looked to the research done at the University of Maryland on growing strawberries with manipulation as a guide. From Thanksgiving through March, the plants are covered with spunbonded polyester floating row covers that aid in plant development. Even frost alarms and temperature sensors are used in the fields in early spring to ensure just the right conditions for the delicate flower buds. 

The end result: big berries and an increase in yield, Shlagel said.

“A lot of people know us for our strawberries, “ he said. “It’s an important crop — fun to eat, fun to grow.”

It’s not just luscious strawberries that make Shlagel Farms so special. In addition to this week’s picks of English Peas and sweet cherries, sugar snap peas, yellow squash, zucchini, grape and greenhouse-grown tomatoes will also be sold at the farmers market. And this is just the beginning of what the Shlagels hope will be a plentiful season.

“We are diversified. We raise approximately 100 acres of fresh market vegetables here at home,” he said.

In St. Mary’s County, on a satellite farm, there are approximately 1000 white and yellow peach, nectarines and cherries trees as well as blueberries and blackberries. The Shlagels also lease a farm in Prince George’s County where they grow asparagus and a variety of grains. On the home farm, 700 peach trees were recently planted, and horse quality hay, corn, wheat and soybeans are also grown; and in the greenhouses, colorful summer annuals and hanging baskets brighten even the gloomiest day. Total acreage: about 450.

“It's tough having to travel all over creation to farm, but it's not like in my dad's day when if you wanted to expand to bring your kids into the family business, you could just purchase the adjacent land,” Shlagel said. “Our farm is pretty much surrounded by subdivisions. We can’t grow unless we're willing to travel.”

The Next Generation

Karl Shlagel, 29, Russ and Eileen’s oldest son, is an anomaly among his peers. He said that when he graduated from high school, there were only three students “still on the farm.” 

"[I] believe I'm the only one still farming at this point," he said.

When asked why he chose to join his parents in the family business, he said that an injury during a college break was the catalyst for self-exploration.

“Ten years ago I would have given you a different answer. Coming out of high school I wanted to get out of here,” he said, adding that the recuperation reinvigorated him, and he began moving in the direction of wanting to be on the farm.

Although he has a full-time job as a manager at the local Best Buy and has a wife and baby to care for, Karl Shlagel is determined to play an integral role in his family’s livelihood.

“Less than 1 percent of the population is involved in production agriculture,” he noted.

“That’s us out in the dirt,” Russ Shlagel quickly added with a glint in his eye.

This story is the fourth in a continuing series about the market this season. Also see: ; ; ; and . The market is open every Sunday, except Labor Day weekend, through Nov. 20 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Old Greenbelt.