Ogier Gardens has been around since 2012. Since 2015, it has done its part to help prevent waste in the local economy by composting food scraps regularly.

Kevin Anderson is the Senior Coordinator of Ogier Gardens. On Sept. 6, he led the Compost 101 workshop, teaching students the importance of composting and the impact of food waste on the economy. 

“If food waste were a country, it would be the world’s third-largest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the USA,” Anderson said. 

Once a week, the Osprey Cafe supplies its staff with buckets of food preparation scraps, such as carrot tops and other unused foodstuffs, to use as compost to fertilize crops. The produce grown then goes to the Lend-a-Wing Pantry and other organizations to prepare meals locally. 

Ogier Gardens student resources are included in the Activity and Service Fee students pay each semester, providing students with resources all year.

Students can volunteer, work or visit the gardens. 

Volunteers can add hours to their resume while learning how to help grow and care for the produce in the gardens. Before leaving, students can even take home organic vegetables, herbs, fruits or flowers that they helped contribute to nourishing. 

Ogier Gardens offers another resource: “Adopt-A-Bed.” Ogier Gardens provides students with everything needed to grow their produce with this service. Students devote two hours a week to maintaining the plant beds and can take home any produce grown.

Amellya Clifford is one of Ogier Gardens’ contributors. She works on the garden’s growth through social factors, including touring first-time students and helping volunteers. 

Clifford said she does a lot of hands-on work, including helping students set up their “Adopt-A-Bed” plant beds, which includes putting up mulch, adding the proper nutrients to the soil and answering any questions.

Multiple workshops will take place in the garden this semester. Students don’t need to sign up in advance; they can sign in when they arrive.  

“There are workshops on how to compost; we’ve got a bee workshop, another on how to make Herbal Tea and a pickling workshop with cucumbers and other produce,” Clifford said. 

Ogier Gardens is open Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and Wednesdays and Fridays, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. & 1 p.m.-5 p.m. It is located near the baseball fields on the north end of campus, near lot 18.

___

For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact editor@unfspinnaker.com.