Farmstand event promotes green living on campus

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 17:24:05 +0000

Jennifer Heinley, an accounting major at the University of Arkansas at ��Ƶlogo, was out shopping at the Campus Garden with her two sons on during the garden’s first farmstand event in mid-July. The family was looking for honey, squash, zucchinis, and any other fresh ingredients that might go well with the Instant Pot recipe she was planning to make for dinner. Heinley said it’s important to buy fresh, organic food and often shops at farmers markets for everything she doesn’t grow in her own garden.�� “I prefer buying locally sourced food if I can’t grow it myself,” she said, adding that her children enjoy the food, even if they don’t always enjoy the work. “I like the food, but I don’t like the weeding,” Blake Heinley, 7, agreed. In the farmstand model, people make donations as they can and then pick whatever they want from the garden. At the garden, which is organic and pesticide-free, students and volunteers grow corn, tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, Turkish melons, and herbs, as well as host perennial and annual flower beds, beehives, and rented stalls. “The donations all go straight back into the garden and helping the community,” Marion Richard, senior biology major and president of the Campus Garden Alliance, said. “I want people to know about the importance of community. We would not have this beautiful garden without all of the people who help us. This garden is a labor of love.”

Visitors harvest produce from the UA ��Ƶlogo Campus Garden during a pay-what-you-can farmstand sale. Photo by Ben Krain.

Toni Boyer-Stewart, web marketer and analyst, took the opportunity to buy some locally grown honey, corn, and pick some fresh flowers straight from the campus garden.�� “Nobody knows about the Campus Garden, and people need to realize that we have a wonderful resource for fresh vegetables and locally grown honey right on campus,” Boyer-Stewart said.�� More than 100 people attended the two-hour event, where the garden staffers sold out of tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and sweet corn. “We love fresh produce,” said Kisa Bellamy, a nursing major from ��Ƶlogo, who was picking collard greens at the campus garden. “For me, it brings it home from what we see in the grocery store to how we actually get the vegetables in our home. I didn’t even know how to pick collards from the ground, so it’s cool that they showed me how.” Leaders of the Campus Garden are planning to hold farmstand events throughout the rest of the growing season as the crops continue to mature. “Maintaining the garden takes a lot of work, and it’s all done by faculty, student, and staff volunteers,” said Dr. Stephen Grace, biology professor and faculty advisor of the Campus Garden Alliance. “The Campus Garden is a model urban farm that can promote better health and nutrition for the community by providing locally grown, fresh produce, contribute to the revitalization of underutilized urban land, provide social and economic benefits to the urban community, and improve urban landscapes.” The next farmstand event will take place from 2:30-5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2.��

Lecture to discuss urban farming in ��Ƶlogo

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 14:13:34 +0000

Urban farming in ��Ƶlogo will be the topic of the next at the University of Arkansas at ��Ƶlogo.�� The lecture, “Farming in the Rock,” will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, in the College of Engineering and Information Technology Auditorium. Chris Hiryak of ��Ƶlogo Urban Farming will share lessons learned from a decade of producing and marketing organically grown flowers and vegetables in the capital city. Hiryak is an organic farmer, pragmatic food activist, minimalist, artist, and yoga practitioner. He graduated from UA ��Ƶlogo with bachelor’s degrees in Spanish, history, and international studies. He participated in the LeadAR, a leadership program through the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension, and an apprenticeship program at Dripping Springs Garden, an organic farming operation in the Ozark Mountains. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Department of Earth Sciences at 501-569-3546 or visit the.

- University News Archive - UA ������Ƶlogo

Farmstand event promotes green living on campus

Lecture to discuss urban farming in ������Ƶlogo

- University News Archive - UA ��Ƶlogo

Lecture to discuss urban farming in ��Ƶlogo