industry representative on the Maryland Agricultural Commission. Not only did the chain of phone calls to Maryland sod farmers begin at this point but they also visited any home improvement store they could find that might still be open and have fresh sod. Many of the sod farms they contacted had already completed harvesting for the day, or were too wet due to the recent rains, or for a variety of other reasons just weren’t able to help out so late at night.
Answering the Call At around 10:00 pm that evening though, Mike called Kevin to say he had found someone who was willing and able to harvest three pallets of fresh sod that evening and get it there on time. Tat person was Jonathan Middleton of Middleton Manor Sod Farm. Out of all the folks they called that evening, Middleton Manor was the sod producer farthest away from the site and yet Jonathan and his team were still willing to do it.
Jonathan spoke to Kevin at 10:20 pm and told him they would harvest it by 11:00 pm, get on the road around midnight, and be in Baltimore by 1:30 to 2:00 am so that the Maryland Department of General Services could start laying the sod immediately.
“Tankfully though, leaving the field a little after midnight had one big advantage, very little traffic. Since our farm is located in Southern Maryland, we had to go North past Washington DC and into Baltimore which are two of the most congested commuter areas in the country. Daylight travel would have been a minimum of three hours, but we managed to get there in a little over 90 minutes, putting us in the Baltimore Harbor at 2:00 am.”
Keep in mind that while all of this is going on, the only thing Jonathan and his team knew was that they just needed to deliver sod for a high-level visit but didn’t know any further details. Kevin knew why it was critically important, but for security reasons he couldn’t share the reason for the urgency or importance with Jonathan.
Kevin Atticks, Maryland's Secretary of Agriculture (left in photo), stands with Jonathan and Leo Middleton in front of the Middleton Manor Sod Farm delivery truck.
Overcoming the Challenges “Due to the recent wet weather in Maryland, the challenges were far more than just the late-night startup or the distance to the site,” says Jonathan. “Te grass hadn’t been mowed for the previous three days, but we have a zero-turn mower at the farm that came in handy. After harvesting, we then had to shuttle each pallet a quarter of a mile through the mud to an appropriate loading area, and by that point, it was close to midnight.
TPI Turf News July/August 2024
Jonathan and Leo arrived at Baltimore Harbor at 2:00 am allowing the Maryland Department of General Services to install the sod and set up the chairs in time for the press conference.
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