Part of my role at Andrews University is to manage the Student Gardens. Our gardens primarily operate for three reasons. First is for the students, providing an academic experience. Second is funding students educations who work at our garden. Last is outreach to the community. We grow dozens of fruits and vegetables used in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, supplying a produce stand and as direct sales to local restaurants.
We manage four acres of peaches, three acres of high-density apples, 3 greenhouses, over 10 acres of organic vegetables, 80 acres of juice grapes and hundreds of feet of raspberries and blackberries. With our CSA being the largest source of sales in a 20-week season we produce a weekly newsletter full of garden tidbits. Part of our outreach is to spread the opportunity of good health to the community. Our newsletters and website have recipes for cooking new or unique produce and healthy data on what we grow. Here are a few examples:
More information can be found out about our farm at augardens.com. We have a regular blog, recipes and general information about health and agriculture.
And he gave it for his opinion, that whoever could make two ears of corn, or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot of ground where only one grew before, would deserve better of mankind, and do more essential service to his country, than the whole race of politicians put together.
- Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels