Bowdoin Organic Garden

The Bowdoin Organic Garden comprises an acre of land broken up into 4 distinct plots.  The oldest and largest plot (1/2 acre) is on Pleasant Hill Road on the property of Crystal Spring Farm, accompanied by the youngest 1/4 acre, and the other 1/4 acre is broken into two plots on campus at the corner of South and Coffin streets.  

We have two distinctly different soil types among the plots.  Most of our soil is Buxton clay, with the remainder being Windsor loamy sand.  Each offers its challenges, though having the two types to work with allows us to cater to the needs of each crop, planting things like carrots and other root crops in the light sandy soil and shallow-rooted crops like salad greens in the heavy clay soil.

Along with the cultivated crops produced on our acre, there are plenty of wild foods that grow around us.  We take cues from the tiny wild strawberry blossoms that the soil is warm enough to plant hot crops, and the first cucumber and zucchini harvest almost always coincides with ripe wild blackberries in mid-July.  We also enjoy loads of wild blueberries in August and cranberries (a testament to our soggy soil!) in October and November.