Student Farm prepares for record-setting harvest

Ben Blavat
Tue, 24 Aug 2021 00:52:52 +0000
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Six employees of the Ohio State Student Farm show off their produce. Credit: Courtesy of Connor Nagy

The Adirondack Blue is an eye-catching potato variety with blue flesh and purple skin, which brings a unique color to any dish.

The potato is one of 53 crops grown at the Ohio State Student Farm, located on a four-acre plot at the Waterman Agriculture and Natural Resources Laboratory on West Campus. Connor Nagy, the farm’s data and logistics coordinator, said the farm was started in 2017 by a group of passionate students who later founded the Student Growing Collaborative.

“It’s really great to be able to connect with people who might not have had farming experience or access to anything more than a small garden, to develop other people’s passions for farming,” Nagy, a third-year in computer science and engineering, said.

Nagy said the farm yielded 5,500 pounds of produce during the 2020 growing season — a record, despite COVID-19 restrictions. The farm has harvested 4,000 pounds during the 2021 growing season so far and plans to continue harvesting through November, suggesting another record-breaking year.

According to the farm’s 2020 report, the group donates about 60 percent of their produce. About 36 percent of those donations go to the Buckeye Food Alliance, Ohio State’s student-run food pantry.

Another 25 percent of produce is sold as Community Supported Agriculture, or CSAs. This produce is sold in bundles to the Columbus community and to Ohio State students at a discounted price.

The Student Farm is run by a team of part-time student employees and volunteers. Nagy said the volunteers have varying levels of experience, ranging from people who grew up on farms to those who simply love plants.

Alex Herridge falls into the latter category. The third-year in computer science and engineering said he joined the Student Farm as a volunteer this past summer after a remote internship left him feeling restless.

“I wanted to get my hands dirty,” Herridge said. “It’s a really good opportunity to get out of the house, to get out of the dorm.”

While most students visit the farm as an extracurricular activity, it also plays a critical role in laboratory coursework for the new sustainable agriculture major.

Casey Hoy, professor of entomology and one of the major’s principal advocates, said the program has been a dream in the making for the past 25 years. Hoy has helped develop a corresponding minor, associate’s degree and graduate program at the university, starting in the late ’90s.

Hoy said the Sustainable Agriculture program was born from a collaboration with Central State University and inspired by EARTH University in Costa Rica. Unlike the other agriculture majors, it focuses heavily on the farm system and boasts a strong, practical experience.

“I always wanted to build that into our program here, so it’s a mix of both the formal education but also hands-on work that really makes that connection,” Hoy said.

The two-credit-hour Student Farm course, HCS 2307, is repeatable and open to all students at Ohio State.

For students interested in learning more about volunteering, the Student Growing Collaborative is hosting a potluck event Friday from 6-8 p.m., where they can socialize with current members. The farm is also hosting a U-Pick event Wednesday from 6-8 p.m., where community members can pick produce themselves and pay by weight.

To register for events, sign up to volunteer or learn more about the farm, students should visit the group’s Linktree.?CSAs are available for purchase through Wednesday.