Courtesy of Lisa Beneman

The vegetables in the dining halls are a constant reminder of the presence of the Bowdoin Organic Garden (BOG) and its work on campus.

However, some students experience the BOG on a deeper level, digging into the soil through different workshops and events organized by the garden.

The BOG runs open garden hours in the spring and fall, where students can drop by and help with any projects that are being worked on. However, the garden’s other mode of outreach, workshops and events, continues throughout the winter. The BOG has already run multiple workshops so far this semester, including an event earlier in October that used garden herbs and vegetables to make fire cider, a medicinal drink. Other previous workshops this semester have included a pick-your-own-flowers event and a workshop centered around plant-based organic dyes.

Later this winter, Organic Garden Supervisor Lisa Beneman said the BOG will be hosting more events centered around creating an item or craft out of provided materials. Several will be about dried flowers, especially as the growing season winds down and the frost sets in.

Beneman also discussed the BOG’s plans for next semester.

“We’ll do some of our winter medicinal events using other products that we’ve grown and dried from the garden, [with] different teas and herbs, and we’ll have a make-your-own-tea-blend workshop and probably a herbal body care workshop,” Beneman said.

Some of these events, like the tea blend and herbal body care workshops, were offered in years past.

“They’re not a completely brand new idea, but they’re always evolving based on how they go and feedback [we receive],” Beneman said. “We’re just trying to make them accessible and smooth to run and to attend, and [we’re] always excited about new ideas.”

Beneman also noted that the BOG has partnered with other clubs and groups on campus, including the Sustainability Office.

“Any time anyone thinks the garden could be a good location to host something cross-collaborative with their group, I’m super excited to talk about what’s possible there,” Beneman said.

Beneman sees the BOG’s work—providing food for the dining halls and enriching the lives of students through events and outreach programs—as incredibly important. She said she wants to expand people’s perceptions of gardening.

“It means spending time outside. It means being in tune with the weather. It means learning how to feed yourself,” she said. “But it can also mean learning how to make your own pigment, if you are a painter, or moving your body in a way that is beneficial for your health or just being out in the sun and getting some good sunshine.”

Beneman emphasized how the different events the BOG runs attract a variety of students and community members, including people who might not normally be into gardening.

“I love seeing all varieties of interaction with the garden and the different things that we offer,” Beneman said. “The more people I can meet here and have conversations with about this garden and farming and food systems in general.… I see it as a really positive experience.”

Noah Goldwasser ’27, one of the BOG’s student leaders, echoed that the goal of the group is to share their love for the garden with the widest-possible audience.

“We just want to get as many people doing something with the garden as possible. For some people, that means showing up to garden hours every day, every week,” Goldwasser said. “[And] for some people, that means just trying one of our hot peppers.”