We both grew up on tobacco farms in Calvert County.  In 1988 we built a house on Paris Farm, land which has been in Jimmy’s family since 1669. The farm in Paris, when Calvert County had many smaller Post Offices, is now part of Owings. We established a large vegetable garden, fenced in pasture for cattle, and built an area for hogs. After Jimmy retired from his computer IT job, we began selling beef and pork at farmers’ markets. We are well-known at the North Beach Market for selling our "Paris Farm Meats"—grass-fed beef and milk-fed pork. Some customers know us because of the eleven straight years we gave ox cart rides and milking demonstrations at Jefferson Patterson Park's Children's Day on the Farm.

In 2015, we purchased Tyverne Creek Farm, also located in Owings on the Patuxent River in the historic Lower Marlboro neighborhood. It is a large tract of land on the Patuxent River, and like most rural parcels in Calvert County, was originally a tobacco farm. In 2006, this acreage was preserved by the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation and was the perfect place to expand our grass-fed cattle operation. Working with the Calvert Soil Conservation District, we developed the farm into pastures for cattle. We raise only grass-fed and grass-finished cattle. Jimmy grows all the hay himself without utilizing herbicides or pesticides. “Roger” our Chiangus bull is from Rogersville, Tennessee. He is 27% Chianina (a heritage breed) and 73% Black Angus. These bulls are developed by the Willow Oak Ranch and are specifically bred to be docile. The cows we have are mostly Black Angus, but there are a few Herefords.

The Calvert Soil Conservation District named us the 2019 Cooperators of the Year. They helped us implement Best Management Practices on this farm using the Maryland Agricultural Cost-Share (MACS) and the Environmental Quality Incentives (EQIP) programs. The seven carefully developed 12-acre paddocks required 4 miles of fencing, which keeps the cattle out of the waterways and nutrients out of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Each paddock includes a watering trough, also planned by Soil Conservation, to provide fresh clean water.

Even though most of our herd is at Tyverne Creek Farm, we have retained the name “Paris Farm Meats” for our beef and pork—reflecting the origin of our small business operation. Please look for us at the North Beach Farmers Market on Saturday mornings or contact us about receiving our monthly emails. We sell from our farm store once a month, via email orders.

Tyverne Creek Farm