A new opportunity is sprouting on campus for those who want to get their hands dirty and contribute to a great cause. The Dr. Keiko Miwa Ross Student Farm and the Schreyer Honors College are collaborating to build a new pocket garden in South Halls where students, faculty and staff can volunteer to grow a variety of vegetables.
The garden is being built in a courtyard outside Simmons Hall where it is easily accessible for all. Volunteers can help transplant seedlings, pull weeds, water plants and harvest produce. The produce that is grown will be donated to the Lions Pantry, a Penn State student food pantry.
The proposal for the Schreyer pocket garden was developed by Vancie Peacock, a second-year student majoring in biological engineering. Peacock is a 2021 Student Farm intern and a Scheyer Scholar, and she has been researching and planning the garden for the past year.
“I want students to feel empowered and to know that they can grow their own food,” Peacock said. “I also hope the garden serves as a physical reminder to advocate for students who are experiencing food insecurity at Penn State.”
A national survey by the Hope Center indicates that 41% of students at four-year institutions face food insecurity. The Lion’s Pantry mission is to address and mitigate student hunger at Penn State University Park campus, and the new garden will contribute to that cause.
The Student Farm has played a pivotal role in training students to tackle this kind of project. As a farm intern, Peacock gained extensive experience tending to crops, organizing volunteers and leading major projects on campus. One of her roles is directing the campus rooftop garden where she has successfully led dozens of student volunteers in growing produce to be donated. The rooftop garden served as a pilot project that supported the Schreyer pocket garden proposal.
Once the pocket garden is complete, open garden hours will be offered each week throughout the growing season. Volunteers will be able to stop by to join in on the day’s tasks, learn about agriculture and food insecurity and brainstorm new ways that they can get involved in agriculture. One goal is to offer a weekly volunteer time after business hours so that faculty and staff can participate. Groups can also volunteer regularly.
“I want it to be an educational garden, and my goal is to try to get as many people involved as possible,” Peacock said.
Each season, the garden will be managed by a Student Farm intern, and funding will be provided by the Schreyer Honors College. The Student Farm will also provide access to resources such as seeds and seedlings each year. Peacock is excited to be working with the honors college because students of every major and interest are represented in it.
“A pre-med student may be interested in using plants as medicine, an art student may be interested in dye crops, or a landscape architecture student may be interested in how we built the raised beds,” Peacock said. “It’s cool to have people of all different majors be able to come together and share a space to learn how their interests can connect to agriculture.”
The Schreyer pocket garden is part of the Scheyer Honors College’s goal of promoting health and wellness by making better use of outdoor space. Dr. Peggy Johnson, the recently retired dean of the Schreyer Honors College, worked with students to bring the garden plan to reality. She said she is looking forward to the calming, nurturing influence that the garden will have.
“I know that working in a garden, pulling weeds and planting vegetables and flowers is so rewarding and healing,” she said. “This is a great use of some grassy areas at Penn State, and I’m thrilled that Vancie has been working on this.”
Johnson explained that the garden fits right into the honors college’s mission of creating opportunities for leadership and civic engagement.
“It’s an awesome feeling when something generated from the grassroots takes seed and comes to fruition,” she said. “There are few things that I can be as proud of as this sort of activity that Schreyer students get involved in.”
To volunteer at the Schreyer pocket garden, sign up for the listserv through the button below:
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