Home Grown
Oriole Park at Camden Yards installs Maryland-grown turfgrass from Collins Wharf Sod Farm
The field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards is now home grown, because, for the first time in 20 years, Oriole Park features turfgrass grown in Maryland. HGT Kentucky bluegrass sod from Collins Wharf Sod Farm in Eden, Maryland, was installed just before Thanksgiving 2025.
In addition to the Maryland-grown turfgrass, this project also showcases the importance of the relationship between the sports field manager and sod producer. In the case of Oriole Park and Collins Wharf, that relationship began more than 25 years ago, because Baltimore Orioles Senior Director of Field Operations Nicole Sherry and Collins Wharf Owner Eddie Moore were students together at Delaware Technical Community College (Del Tech).
“I knew about HGT, and saw that Eddie has been growing it at Collins Wharf,” said Sherry. “I spoke with my counterparts about how well it played, the recovery time, and how well it performed against certain disease pressures that we have in the Mid-Atlantic. After consulting with everybody that has utilized Eddie’s turf, I decided that was probably the best field to install for next season and hopefully beyond.”
According to Moore, whose other MLB clients include Citi Field (New York Mets) and Citizens Bank Park (Philadelphia Phillies), Collins Wharf has had a great deal of success with HGT bluegrass, which is resistant to stress and disease pressure. The success with HGT Bluegrass is not limited to baseball. In the same region, HGT has been utilized at Baltimore Country Club, Caves Valley Golf Club, and Country Club of Maryland to name a few. HGT has been sent to the Columbus Crew in Ohio and FC New York, which also plays some of its games at Citi Field.
Added Sherry, “It has been a long time since we utilized sod from Maryland — mainly because there are not many sod farms here that produce cool-season grasses. When we saw that Eddie’s farm was available, we jumped on it. Being from Maryland and having a grass representing Maryland is huge for our fan base. We want to support local businesses as much as we can from an organizational standpoint.”
For Moore, supplying the turfgrass for Oriole Park is a dream come true. Moore is the fourth-generation owner of Collins Wharf, a family farm that began in 1921. When he was 12 years old, Moore’s father encouraged him to choose a crop to grow on the farm. But rather than melons or string beans, Moore wanted to grow sod.
“I used to cut grass in our yard, and I loved baseball,” said Moore. “My father said, ‘You know how we get our tomato plants partially grown, then we put them in our fields and continue to grow them? People do the same thing with grass.’ I said, ‘You mean I could grow this grass and take it to Camden Yards?’”
When Moore told his grandfather what he wanted to grow, his grandfather’s reply was, “Boy, I’ve been trying to kill grass on my farm my whole life, and you want to grow it?” Said Moore, “That really stuck with me. I think he’s pretty proud of what we’ve done here and the people that we have encountered.”
Throughout high school, Moore held onto the dream of someday providing sod for the Baltimore Orioles. His first planting was in 1999, around the same time he was at Del Tech with Sherry.
“We’ve done nothing but grow and have success since, and it’s just been wonderful,” Moore added. “I was the last sod farm from Maryland to provide the turf for Camden Yards, and that was in 2005. Now I’m getting another opportunity. So it really means a lot to me.”
A partnership built on respect
According to Sherry, communication is vital to the relationship between the sports field manager and sod producer.
“This all happened within a month to get this executed and the sod laid at Camden Yards,” said Sherry. “It was a quick turnaround, but there were initial conversations and visits to the sod farm. The communication about what we needed and what Eddie could provide was top of our minds.”
Added Moore, “I think communication going into the future is a big part of what is needed to meet the needs that Nicole and the Orioles will have. That could be different varieties, different soil types, or different types of cut, and we want to be able to provide that for them. To get the product the Baltimore Orioles need and deserve could take more than a year for us to produce. So communication starts way in advance.”
The trust built 25 years ago in the classroom at Del Tech should help with that effort.
“Who knew that the two of us would be here together 25 years later?” said Moore. “When we sat in class together, I knew I was going to be a sod farmer, but I didn’t know that she was going to work for the Baltimore Orioles. It’s very surreal to be able to work with Nicole.”
Said Sherry, “It’s pretty special for me, because where Eddie and I are from, you treat people like they’re family. So even though we had a brief encounter in the grand scheme of things, Eddie’s always been somebody that I knew and that I respected. Going into this partnership with him and the people in his company, I know that we’re going to have that same mutual respect. We’re always going to have each other’s backs, and we’re going to communicate effectively. I think that comes from our upbringing, and where we’re from. It is going to be a special relationship moving forward.”