In March, I helped construct a community garden on Xavier University’s campus. A student reporter for the newspaper sent me an e-mail asking various questions for an article that she was working on. Below are my answers. Thanks for reading.

1. I have researched a lot about Urban Harvest through your web site, but what inspired you to start Urban Harvest? Why is sustainability so important to you?

This is my 2nd year for  UH (Urban Harvest). It really came from embracing my farming back ground. I grew up on a farm in Norther Indiana, and have missed what Wendell Berry calls, “The magic of being in the dirt.” I find it  personally fulfilling to work the soil, plant seeds, and then watch them grow into food.

Food is the 2nd reason I started UH. After growing up in Indiana producing our own food on the farm, and spending 10 years in Michigan where there is an abundance of local produce, my family and I moved to Cincinnati 5 years ago. In most cases, Cinci isn’t much different than the other places I have lived, but there is one glaring difference. Food. Most of the people I spoke with seemed to be very apathetic about their food. They didn’t know where it came from, nor did they seem to really care; so long as they could run to the local store and buy whatever it they wanted.

The average item in a store is shipped 350 miles. A whole meal has been shipped over 1500 miles. As the cost in oil has gone up, so has the cost of shipping products. Therefore, people’s food bills have gone up as well, because we fully know that those increases are passed directly along to the consumers.

All of these factors contributed to me starting UH. I love setting gardens up for families; seeing children who didn’t like to eat their vegetables (I used to be one of those kids); now love eating salads and peas and carrots. They are eating them not only because they taste better, but also because they have been involved in the process of food creation, not merely food consumption.

I think that creation is going to be the biggest part of sustainability in the future. We are made in God’s image, who is a creator, yet if we only consume, we are not being true to our original purpose. Creating is much more difficult, but it is also much more fulfilling. Sustainability is going to have to be something that an weather the storm of apathy, and laziness. Creating takes so much effort, and I honestly don’t know how many people are willing to give more of an effort, especially for food when it is so readily available at a local store.

Hopefully, when someone eats a truly ripe tomato or a fresh from the garden salad and can taste the difference in the product compared to something bought at the local supermarket, the light bulb will go on, and they will realize what they are missing, and that it’s time for them to make a change.

2. How have the NEXUS garden and Urban Harvest worked together on this project?

I was brought on board early in the process. I am a Norwood resident. My experience and work was pivotal in establishing other community gardens in the area, and when NEXUS was in it’s infancy, Molly Robertshaw reached out to me to help.
My specific role for the NEXUS gardens was co-chair. I oversaw the logistics of the installation. I worked with Joe and Dick from the Xavier Physical Plant to get things procured and in place so that in March we were able to build all 30 beds and fill them with soil. It was a good working relationship, and I couldn’t have asked to work with 2 better guys.
Nor better students. I couldn’t believe 35 students showed up at 830 AM on a Saturday to help build a garden. Xavier University has some amazing people on campus, faculty, staff and students. It has been a pleasure to work with all of them in some way or another in making the NEXUS Community Garden.

3. What is your opinion of the NEXUS garden? Do you think it is going to be something that is truly impactful on Xavier’s campus or only a small stepping stone towards bigger and better things (or both)?

I love the garden. It is beautiful. I can’t wait to see it in full bloom and producing food for the participants.
How does this garden impact Xavier? I don’t know for sure, but what I do know is that it is impacting the lives of the people that are participating. I am grateful for an administration that is willing to explore these types of programs and opportunities not only for their own people (staff/students) but for the surrounding communities as well. It speaks highly of them as administrators.
With the NCG (NEXUS Community Garden) on campus, I think that it is going to open the door for more conversations about sustainability, environmental concerns, and food quality. It will be a launch point for moving people from consumer to creator. With goals like that, I can’t see how the NCG can fail to make an impact on Xavier’s campus, or in the communities at large.

Other than the 35 students that showed up at 830 AM on a Saturday? I would probably say that my biggest surprise has to be the commitment and dedication that the core team has been to the project. People came from all aspects of life and from 3 communities to make this garden happen. To get so many like minded folks together in one space for 1 hour a week for 3 months, that is a small miracle. Many thanks should go out to the entire team for working so diligently on their tasks.
A person shouldn’t be so surprised when all of their hard work pays off, but on a project like this; where there are so many working pieces involved, expecting it to come off with the success that it did would have been very arrogant. It’s always a bit of a surprise when the pieces come together, and fit as neatly and perfectly as they do to make a great, functional space. Again, this success all goes back to the devotion of the team.

5. How do you envision this garden impacting the surrounding community?

This is the 3rd community garden that I have helped with. I love community gardens. Unlike yards or wide expanses of grass that needs to be mowed, gardening creates conversations. 30 raised beds in such close proximity will hopefully produce conversations not only about how to raise a beautiful strawberry, but also on how to raise a beautiful family. You honestly never know where a conversation is going to go, but community gardens are a great place to foster a safe environment to start having some of those talks.
My hope and prayer is that not only will the NEXUS Community Garden be bountiful in fruit, but also in productive conversation and community development.

One final note, there are still plots available for this growing season. If you live in Norwood or Evanston, please fill out an application by visiting:

http://www.xavier.edu/peace-justice/Community-Garden.cfm

Also to see pictures of the project, you can go to UH’s fan page on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Harvest/204580226655?v=photos#!/pages/Urban-Harvest/204580226655?v=wall

If all goes well, photos will be a new feature on this website in the coming weeks.