Gigi Flynn
Contributing Writer
The Lewisburg Community Garden, created by University students last year, is expanding.
The garden donates its crops to Community Harvest and to Dinner by the River, two local charities that provide free hot meals to the greater Lewisburg area.
“We start in February at the Bucknell greenhouse,” Stacey Sommerfield, assistant director of Service Learning said. “In May, we move the plants outside to the community garden, and in November we close the garden.”
In addition to growing and maintaining the crops, the Lewisburg Community Garden also runs summer camps for 200 local underprivileged kids from ages four to 17. The kids learn about composting, solar cooking, and integrated pest management, in addition to completing various art projects.
The garden is completely funded by donations and various fundraisers.
Over this past summer, the Lewisburg Community Garden had two Americorp Vista workers, two University research students, and another hourly paid University student working at the garden.
“In the spring of 2012 and 2013, we teamed up with two Management 101 classes to raise money,” Sommerfield said. “That money we put toward infrastructure.”
The Lewisburg Community Garden is looking to expand even more for this next season. They hope to provide more summer camps and team up with another Management 101 class this winter to raise more money.