On July 23, 2026, Asawana Farms was proud and excited to participate in the Prince George’s County Executive Exchange Expo: Agriculture Edition, a special event dedicated to celebrating, supporting, and expanding agriculture throughout Prince George’s County.
Asawana Farms welcomed a team of mechanical engineering students from University of Maryland, College Park for an in-depth, on-site visit connected to a proposed Capstone design project. What began as a classroom concept is now taking shape as a real-world collaboration aimed at solving one of the most pressing challenges facing small-scale specialty crop farmers: affordable greenhouse heating.
At Asawana Farms, every visit is an opportunity to plant more than seeds — we plant knowledge, confidence, and community resilience. Recently, we had the privilege of hosting 21 youths from Sandstone Care, a residential treatment center in Rockville, Maryland, at the Urban Farm Incubator (UFI), where our farm is located.
At Asawana Farms, one of our core missions is to grow culturally significant crops that nourish both the body and the community. One such crop is bitter leaf — a tropical plant deeply valued in many African cuisines and traditional healing practices. While it thrives naturally in warm climates, growing bitter leaf in Maryland’s changing seasons — especially through winter — is a true test of patience, skill, and community collaboration.
At Asawana Farms, we’ve always believed that farming is more than planting seeds—it’s curiosity, innovation, and the courage to try something new even when the odds seem stacked against you.
With cities expanding and green space shrinking, our farm continues to ask the question: How can we make urban farming not only sustainable, but smarter, cleaner, and more exciting?
