The New College Food Forest is an iconic part of campus life, providing a fun way for students to garden together and create community engagement through sharing food. Located at Caples campus, the Food Forest also has the added benefit of being a free, healthy alternative food source. There are a variety of fruits and vegetables, which any students are free to come collect and add to their meals.

“Jamaican cherries and mulberries should be ripening soon after we get back from break,” Food Forest TA and third-year Gus Frank said. “The Jamaican cherry is the first tree you see when walking into the food forest and has small red fruits. There are four different kinds of mulberries in the food forest alone, and each one tastes very different!” 

“It’s important to remember to follow ethical harvesting practices,” Frank continued. “Don’t take the first fruit you see, take only as much as you will eat or use, make sure to leave enough for other students to enjoy the harvest. As the semester progresses more and more fruits should be popping up, so make sure to keep your eye out!”

In addition to the Food Forest, Caples also has a variety of other plants which provide more gardening opportunities for students—including a pollinator garden for butterflies and bees, to help attract them to the other plants in the area. 

In order to help get students involved in the campus gardening, the Council of Green Affairs (CGA) has announced a Garden Club which, since Feb. 23, has been meeting every Wednesday from 3 to 4:30 p.m. The Garden Club so far consists of only the three garden TAs—second-year Lillian Field, thesis student Liah Continentino and Frank, who says that they “can always use the extra help if you’d like to get your hands in some dirt!” 

Even if you aren’t looking for ingredients for your next meal, the Caples gardens are still a beautiful place to walk around and observe the flora and fauna New College has to offer.