ELLICOTT CITY, MD – Howard County Executive Calvin Ball today was joined by the County’s Department of Recreation & Parks Director Nick Mooneyhan, fellow elected officials, and members of the community to break ground on the department’s new “Community Garden at Old Montgomery Road” in Ellicott City. View photos of the event on the County’s Flickr page.
Located on Old Montgomery Road, just north of the MD 100 overpass and the Maryland School for the Deaf, this 16.22-acre community space will feature 126 garden plots where Howard County residents from Ellicott City to Elkridge and beyond can grow fresh produce and flowers, along with a parking lot and storage area. Additionally, 25 of the 126 garden plots will be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible. These 25 plots will feature raised garden beds to allow wheelchair bound individuals, or anyone unable to comfortably bend down to the ground, the opportunity to plant, tend, and harvest alongside their neighbors.
With the addition of this community garden, we now have a remarkable 699 garden plots in Howard County. That is nearly 700 families and residents who have access to fresh food they grew with their own hands and hearts, while building a stronger connection to our planet. Our Community Garden at Old Montgomery Road will be more than just soil and seeds. It will be a place where we promote sustainability, access to nutritious, fresh, and affordable foods, endorse community, and provide community members who don't have backyards the opportunity to farm the land.
In addition to providing improved access to residents with disabilities, the Community Garden at Old Montgomery Road is also testing out Recreation & Parks’ new improvements to community garden plots. These pilot improvements include surrounding the property with deer fencing with a thicker mesh at the bottom to stop rabbits, rodents, and other wildlife from damaging crops and designing a more uniform and pleasingly organized space. Through these improvements, Recreation & Parks hopes to create a safe and affective area where residents can raise crops and other vegetation for themselves and their families.
“These gardens will support the well-being of local residents by offering a self-sufficient, low-cost way to grow fresh, healthy foods—chosen and cultivated by each individual gardener,” said Mooneyhan. “It’s about more than just vegetables; it’s about empowerment, sustainability, and a sense of pride in what we grow.”
The Community Garden at Old Montgomery Road is the fourth community garden to be built by Recreation & Parks, in partnership with Columbia Gardeners, and joins locations at Elkhorn, Long Reach, and West Side. Columbia Gardeners is a nonprofit organization that provides gardening opportunities in Howard County. Like the other three sites, Columbia Gardeners will lease out the plots and handle much of the day-to-day activities at the Community Garden at Old Montgomery Road.
“Our community garden sites have more interest than available plots for a number of years now, with many residents on the waitlist eager to participate. The new community garden site will meaningfully reduce the waitlist and give more residents the opportunity to grow their own food and connect through gardening,” said President of Columbia Gardeners, Inc. Amod Bhide.
Additionally, five of the 126 plots have been set aside for use by the Community Action Council of Howard County (CAC) to grow food for those facing food insecurity. For more than 60 years, the CAC has served as the county’s non-profit anti-poverty organization. Through its five core services: Early Childhood Education, Energy Assistance, Housing Assistance, Weatherization Assistance, and Food Assistance, the CAC helps hard-working individuals and families overcome economic challenges and achieve lasting self-sufficiency. These five plots will provide fresh produce to CAC’s Food Assistance program’s Howard County Food Bank in Columbia and future facility in Jessup. This past September, Ball broke ground on CAC’s new Route One Corridor Campus, which will feature a new flagship Food Bank facility and Early Childhood Education Center. The campus will provide access to critical services for hardworking families living in Elkridge, Jessup, Savage, and North Laurel.
“We know that in times of economic hardship, food is often the first thing families sacrifice. Parents make incredibly difficult choices every day, sometimes skipping meals to keep the lights on or a roof overhead,” said Tracy Broccolino, President of the Community Action Council of Howard County. “That is why CAC’s Howard County Food Bank provides fresh, healthy, and culturally relevant options through a client choice model—ensuring families can access foods that meet their needs. Gardens like this one help make that possible.”
Construction of the Community Garden at Old Montgomery Road is expected to be completed by September of 2026.