Grace, Grit and Lipstick with  Shelby Watson Hampton

In this conversation with Shelby Watson Hampton, the first Maryland and first vineyard guest, describes her family’s five-acre estate vineyard and on-farm winery (six grape varieties; planted 2014; winery opened 2017) where they grow, harvest, process, bottle, and sell wine, plus a wedding barn converted from horse stables. Her husband manages the vineyard and works for the county soil conservation district; they have a four-year-old son and she is pregnant with their second child. Shelby explains vineyard labor, harvest timing, and staffing without H-2A, compares agritourism realities, and shares her family’s farm evolution from tobacco and hogs (since 1955) to a tree nursery and early agritourism, then to the current business after her grandfather’s death. She advises on succession planning, zoning/permitting for agritourism, recommends NAFDMA, discusses winery sales/shipping, wedding mishaps, her 2023 book “Grace, Grit, and Lipstick,” parenting challenges, and a recent loss of six pet chickens to a dog.We're glad you're joining us for another episode of Barnyard Language. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend (or two) and be sure to rate and review us wherever you're listening! If you want to help us keep buying coffee and paying our editor, you can make a monthly pledge on Patreon to help us stay on the air. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok as BarnyardLanguage, and if you'd like to connect with other farming families, you can join our private Barnyard Language Facebook group. We're always in search of future guests for the podcast. If you or someone you know would like to chat with us, get in touch.If you have a something you'd like to Cuss & Discuss, you can submit it here: speakpipe.com/barnyardlanguage or email us at [email protected].