Last week, Geneseo chefs prepared potato salad for an employee year-end luncheon with garlic scapes harvested from the college’s own learning and experimental garden as the star ingredient.
Student interns that are working with the Office of Sustainability harvested 40 pounds of organic garlic scape, and were delivered them to chefs for processing. They were used for the picnic and also for a culinary training on campus hosted by Chef Michelle Halloran.
“The garlic project is a good example of what we want the eGarden to be,” says Dan DeZarn, director of the office of sustainability. “It’s a hands-on learning experience for all involved that has a positive impact on campus operations, local and seasonal food usage and sustainability.”
The vegetable beds are one facet of the college’s “eGarden,” or Energy Garden, that is meant to produce energy for campus use from non-polluting source, and is a place for learning and growing ideas. There is a large wind turbine, a barn for students and faculty to test related projects that is outfitted with solar power, solar panels and a wind turbine.
The garlic is the first large harvest. Last fall, students working with the Office of Sustainability helped select, process and plant 30 pounds of garlic. Interns and volunteers tended the beds through the growing season. Bulbs will be kept to re-plant this fall, so the project is self-sustaining, says DeZarn. The garlic is growing in compost produced from dinning hall and campus organic waste, and the beds are built from locally sourced timber.
“It is a wonderful opportunity for students, faculty and staff alike to see and get involved with where our food comes from and what we can do to mitigate its potentially negative imp
acts,” says DeZarn.