Some Howard County students are learning how to garden year-round

When Celeste Hidey learned that Harper’s Choice Middle School could receive an indoor garden system, she jumped at the chance.

Hidey, the school’s advanced academics teacher, already had a small setup, known as a hydroponic system, for her environmental studies class. With it, her students learned how to grow basil.

But with a large tower system, they could plant mini cauliflower, kale, green onions, collard greens and perpetual spinach.

Harper’s Choice Middle was one of seven Howard County schools to receive hydroponic systems last school year through a pilot program organized by the Howard County Food Council to teach students where food comes from and encourage healthy eating habits.

Hydroponic systems grow plants in water instead of dirt. Plant roots absorb vitamins and nutrients directly from the water, resulting in faster growth, reduced water use and the ability to grow fresh food indoors year-round.

Hidey’s vision of a more robust hydroponic garden became a reality last spring.

Within a week of planting the herbs and vegetables with her seventh graders, she saw the plants begin to sprout.

“It’s very bright, and I love having it in my space,” Hidey said. “It will be so nice to have it this winter when everything is dead outside and have this lush, green system.”

The food council, which is a joint venture between the county health department and the University of Maryland Extension of Howard County, installed the systems during the 2025-26 academic year at Harper’s Choice, Ellicott Mills and Lake Elkhorn middle schools; Ducketts Lane, Laurel Woods and Talbott Springs elementary schools; and middle school classes at the Homewood Center.

All seven are state-designated community schools that serve as neighborhood hubs, connecting families to local supports and resources, including health care, access to healthy food, clothing, adult education classes and after-school enrichment programs.

The council secured state grants from the Maryland Department of Health’s Cancer and Chronic Disease Bureau and its Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control to pay $23,615 for the systems.

The council consulted with local farmers who “wanted more opportunities for children to learn how food is grown and have them be more connected to the food they eat,” said Emily Harris, the food council’s administrator.

“The hydroponic system really offers students an experimental opportunity and can create a student buy-in, for them to want to taste those edible plants,” Harris said.

The hydroponics pilot year was focused on students tasting and experimenting with what they’d grown, from fresh vegetables and herbs to flowers. Each of the pilot schools also has community gardens.

With the program entering its second year, the food council expanded it to include Long Reach and Oakland Mills high schools and high school classes at the Homewood Center. The council also will start supporting Marriotts Ridge High School’s use of a hydroponic system it already had. Students in academic life skills classes at the participating schools will learn about hydroponic systems.

“We really do see kids actively engaging with these systems in a way that a handout worksheet wouldn’t be as effective,” Harris said.

Students are more curious about trying new things and eating edible plants, she added.

The hydroponic system and the school garden are great community assets, Harper’s Choice Middle Principal Tiffanie Nunley said.

“It’s neat,” she said. “When you see it you have no idea it can create what it ends up doing.”

Because the system arrived only last spring, many of the plants grew during summer break. The school’s summer staff would go into Hidey’s classroom at lunch and clip plants for their salads.

Last year, Hidey’s seventh graders “adopted” the indoor plants and grew very attached to them. They researched recipes and learned about medicinal uses, including how oregano can help blood pressure, Hidey said.

Now eighth graders, their job is to take care of their plants, including trimming the roots, watering and refreshing the tank. The system is currently growing two varieties of kale, Thai basil, green onions, bok choy, collard greens and yellow Swiss chard.

Hidey’s new seventh graders will focus more on the school’s greenhouse and community garden, which will be closed for a few months in the winter. Students will learn how to raise plants from seed in the greenhouse and transfer them to the garden when the weather warms up.

But not the hydroponic system, which the Harper’s Choice middle schoolers can’t get enough of.

“They love it and the cool part is it’s just sitting right in my classroom,” she said. “I will have kids walk by and be like ‘Whoa, what’s that?’”