Cultivating community in Rowan’s public garden

Tucked between Edgewood Apartments and Magnolia Hall, Rowan University’s student-run community garden is more than just a patch of green – it's a living classroom and a shared resource for students and the Glassboro community.

Filled with a vibrant mix across six beds, the garden balances native flowers with fruits and vegetables to draw a healthy mix of pollinators.

On a warm, late summer day this September, a mix of bees, butterflies, moths and flies floated gently across bright buds and flowers, their busy seasonal work almost done.

“It’s really grounding for me,” said Raven Vijayakumar, a senior environmental & sustainability studies/GIS double major who helps plant and maintain the garden. “There’s just something that draws you in. Plus, I love bugs.”

The garden is sponsored by the Rowan Environmental Action League (REAL), but any member of the Rowan community is welcome to be part of it.

Community garden chair Peter Combs, a geology/environmental & sustainability studies double major, said this year’s fall harvest, which is offered free to the Rowan community, includes grapes, raspberries, pumpkins, squashes, okra, eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos, plus a variety of herbs and leafy greens. Interwoven among those edible plants are native blooms like blazing star, New England aster, anise hyssop, coneflowers, milkweeds, foxgloves and rudbeckias – each chosen to attract pollinators and foster biodiversity.

Planting cloves of garlic for next year’s crop, Combs said students, faculty and staff are not just allowed to pick from this fall’s bounty, they’re encouraged to.

“People can just come by and take stuff,” he said.

Every week until the first frost, REAL hosts a weeding and maintenance day, where anyone curious about sustainable gardening can spend an hour or two learning, connecting and getting their hands dirty.

With that first frost now approaching, plans for the garden’s future are budding, and anyone interested is invited to help shape the next growing season. For more information, email rowanenviro@gmail.com.