In late April, rows of kohlrabi, kale, onions, carrots and peas are just starting to sprout in the school’s gardens, which are a relatively new addition to the campus. In 2009, the college’s president requested a farmers’ market be opened on the property, and the next year, the agriculture department planted six garden plots. Before the growing season ended, six additional plots were planted, and in 2013, eight plots were added – for a grand total of 20 – as was a pumpkin patch. Each week, the market buzzes with activity inside the school’s sale barn where shoppers stock up on fresh produce and items such as peach preserves and biscuit and scone mixes. Back in the gardens, Lori Simmons, manager of the gardens and farmers’ market, teaches students how to successfully harvest the tiny carrots that are barely sprouting above the soil. Just like students in the kitchen, students who work in the gardens don’t always arrive with much know-how. Many are total novices when it comes to gardening. “Not all of our students know the difference between kale and broccoli plants,” Simmons says. “But we don’t want them to feel embarrassed. This is their chance to learn.” To make sure broccoli is planted in the correct beds, Simmons started drawing pictures of the plants on rocks that are used to mark each bed. “We have one student, for example, who is an early education major, and she’s a herdsman in the dairy,” Simmons says. “That means she pretty much runs the show.” When the student first arrived on campus, she didn’t know how to drive a tractor, and now she runs the operation. Near the vegetable gardens are apple trees, blueberry and blackberry bushes and rows of sprawling strawberry plants. It’s beautiful out here even as the sky threatens to storm overhead. But the clouds don’t worry the group of students pulling up weeds in the garden. They’re too focused on not accidentally uprooting their newly planted bounty. College of the Ozarks, 1 Industrial Place, Point Lookout, Missouri, 417.334.6411, cofo.edu 72
feastmagazine.com
JUNE 2015