By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Bowling Green State University sophomore psychology student D’Andre Carswell loves to cook. His interest in cooking with fresh ingredients recently spurred him to step up and help plant the BGSU Community Garden.
“Since I’m going to be using it a lot, I might as well just help,” he said during the garden’s planting day last month. Nearly 20 volunteers participated in the planting day, which also included weeding, tilling the soil, and preparing the 10 raised beds in the garden.
The garden, situated east of the Fine Arts Building and southwest of Kreischer residence hall, has become a food source for university students and staff, but also for the community, said Dr. Shannon Orr, director of the Falcon Food Pantry, which oversees the community garden.
Today, the garden features 10 raised beds that include a variety of vegetables, herbs, flowers and native plants. The Falcon Food Pantry has become an integral partner in maintaining the garden and making sure the produce is part of the fight against food insecurity.
According to Orr, food insecurity is a serious concern in the local community. The Falcon Food Pantry helps fill the food gap when money is tight for approximately 1,300 students each month. “So the need is there. We are fortunate, because we have so much support, from students to faculty who come out to lend a hand,” she said.
“The fact that we have 20 interns helping every day in the food pantry tells you that they understand the food insecurity issue,” Orr added. “Our job is to help reduce the stigma of food insecurity, and the garden is a great addition to that mission.”
The garden is proof that it takes a village, Learning Communities Director Dr. Brett Holden explained.
The idea grew from a food production and sustainability course for Learning Community students. They gained hands-on experience planting seeds in the winter and learning the ins and outs of gardening.
Many of the students don’t have any experience with gardening or even a true understanding of where their food comes from, Holden said.
“During COVID, when they would go to the grocery store, and shelves would be bare, they started to realize that there are only about seven days’ worth of produce in the pipeline,” he said. ”This teaches them how they can grow food and create their own gardens.”
Dick Bostdorff, whose esteemed career spans various agricultural and horticultural roles, including operating a greenhouse, has lent his expertise to BGSU and the Learning Community since 2018. He was instrumental in many of the garden’s advancements and in teaching the students how to build secure, resilient food systems.
In addition to providing the finer points of planting and feeding the plants for optimum productivity, Bostdorff added a lighting product he helped develop to improve end results in growing vegetables.
The Falcon Food Pantry team, which includes 20 interns throughout the year, continues to play a significant role in the garden and in battling food insecurity in a positive way.
With a clipboard in hand, Cherylle Dave, a summer graduate assistant for the food pantry, helped keep the process moving for the planting day.
“We got some new beds put in, and they look great,” they said. “We’re going to be having some vegetables growing out from and some flowers,” including (Falcon) orane marigolds for the university’s Day of the Dead celebration.
“This is our community garden for everyone. Anyone can come pick. Anyone can come enjoy the vegetables,” Dave said.
Wolfgang Mann, a December 2024 BGSU graduate who now works for the Wood County Park District, was part of the park district team that was adding an assortment of native plants in the garden area.
The park district donated native plants such as coreopsis, butterfly milkweed, lobelias, cardinal flowers, asters and sedges.
Also stepping into the BGSU gardening community this year are several faculty and students who have been part of BGSU’s annual “In the Round” series. The series’ theme this past year–an Indigenous perspective on the connection between art, science and nature—tied in directly to the purpose of the garden.
The community, including and beyond the university, is encouraged and welcomed to visit the garden and pick vegetables and flowers that are ready to be harvested.
“I’ve been to the community garden in past years, and I’ve never seen many people out here to pick the vegetables,” recalled Brendan Jameson, the student leader for the garden this year. “We really want to let the community know it’s here for everyone.”
There will be signage at the site to help visitors understand what is ready to be picked and what needs more time. Information about the harvest availability will also be posted on the Falcon Food Pantry’s social media sites: Instagram (falcon_food_pantry) and Facebook (FalconFoodPantry).
