Editor’s note: This article, published at 11:41 a.m. on May 17, 2024, was updated at 1:17 p.m. to correct the name of the Community Food Forest Collective. Updated at 2:24 p.m. to clarify the name of a mint plant in the food forest and add links.
When Tierney Acosta learned that fellow students at Montgomery College were facing food insecurity, she decided to take action.
Soon a plan began to take root: the creation of a “food forest” at the college’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus that will provide students, staff and neighboring residents with fresh fruit and vegetables and a green space for gatherings and education.
A food forest is a multi-layered garden that has a diverse array of edible plants, herbs, flowers, vines, bushes and trees. Many of the plants are often perennials that grow back annually. Food forests aim to “mimic ecosystems and patterns found in nature,” according to the Food Forest Project, a South Dakota-based nonprofit that plants public food forest and provides educational resources on planting, harvesting and edible landscaping.
The first phase of the college’s food forest is located on about 30,000 square feet of land on the campus at Philadelphia and Chicago avenues. This spring Acosta has had the help of local gardeners, horticulture experts, and dozens of volunteers to create and plant the forest. By the end of the summer, Acosta said the forest should be ready for its first harvest and it will reach its full potential in two years.
“Right now, we have [planted] peach trees and apple trees, blueberry bushes, American persimmons, pawpaws, black raspberry bushes, witch hazel, purple coneflower,” said Acosta, a horticulture and sustainable agribusiness student who is also the founder and president of the college’s permaculture club. “We have a lot of different, amazing things and lots of native plants.”
Among the other edible plants are carrots, okra, tomatoes, blunt mountain mint – a species of mint native to eastern North America – peas and zucchini. Acosta added that she recently planted White Turtlehead – a native North American wildflower that is a common host plant for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly, the official Maryland state insect.
Last weekend, Acosta and others involved in the food forest held volunteer workdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the site.
“For a lot of people, [the workdays] been the first time that they’ve ever gardened or had their hands in the dirt. And every single person that I’ve seen come has left with a smile on their face,” Acosta said.
The first phase of the food forest sits on the corner of Philadelphia and Chicago avenues. Credit: Elia Griffin 
Sapling of a hazelnut tree in the food forest. Credit: Elia Griffin 
Acosta tosses seeds across mounds of mulch in a section of the food forest she designed. Credit: Elia Griffin 
A smaller forest will be planted in small courtyard of the college’s Institute for Race, Justice and Civic Engagement. Credit: Elia Griffin
Once the food forest reaches full fruition, Acosta envisions it as a place where students can pick up vegetables or fruit as a snack on the way to class or to bring home for meals.
At Montgomery College, about 40% of the school’s students are food insecure and 15% are housing insecure, according to Kim McGettigan, the administrative manager at Montgomery College’s Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus.
Acosta partnered with the Community Food Forest Collective – a nonprofit based in Takoma Park – to work with local gardening and horticulture experts. Acosta then presented their plans and ideas to the campus president and provost’s office in April 2023, she said.
“I was anticipating them saying no, or just kind of being like, ‘Thanks so much for your thought. Go somewhere else.’ But they were actually really receptive and said ‘Yes’ right away and then gave me 30,000 square feet” of space on campus, she said. Acosta said she received a $15,000 grant from the county to help pay for the project.
McGettigan said that when Acosta approached college officials with the food forest idea, she thought it was a “great idea” with the potential to expand.
“Anything that helps our students, I am 100% behind. And the food forest seemed to me such a Takoma Park thing and would be such a win in so many ways,” said McGettigan, referring to the progressive and diverse nature of the community.
Montgomery College has already taken steps to tackle student food insecurity by providing food pantries and a Mobile Food Market, offering students fresh fruits, vegetables and other food. Students can also register for a food locker on campus that offers weekly groceries and hygiene assistance. As an additional resource, Acosta hopes the food forest will help students connect with their community and the land.
Acosta and the Community Food Forest Collective began planting the first phase of the forest this spring, spreading mulch and planting seeds and saplings. Volunteers from the community and nearby neighborhoods have lent a hand at various food forest workdays in March and April.
“It’s really been amazing to see how many different branches and facets of the community have kind of integrated themselves in this,” Acosta said. “We’re also partnering with [Silver Spring homeless shelter] Shepherd’s Table and gardening clubs. It’s just been a very cool web connecting a lot of people.
In May, plants were beginning to sprout in the food forest. Deer and a family of rabbits that live in a nearby bush have been munching on some of the plants, but Acosta said she doesn’t mind the animals taking a bite. In fact, Acosta said she has enjoyed seeing the space become alive with animal activity.
“Why I like the idea of the food forest so much is because forests [aren’t] just for human consumption. We’re supporting all of our non-human neighbors as well because we’re dependent on them in the wider web of things,” Acosta said, noting that creating the forest can help fight habitat loss for animals.
This summer and fall, Acosta and the collective plan to continue adding more food forest areas to the campus, including at a community garden that has fallen into disrepair, located on Fenton Street under the Montgomery College bridge.
Jim Sniezek, the college’s dean of chemical and biological sciences, said he looks forward to seeing the old community garden come back to life and to use the space to connect with students from Montgomery County Public Schools through field trips.
“Those spaces are available, and can and quite honestly should be converted into something that is both experiential for our students as well as beneficial to the community that we serve,” he said.
