This story originally appeared in The Centre County Gazette.
The Arboretum at Penn State’s annual harvest and donation to the State College Food Bank is almost completed for the season with nearly 2,000 pounds of produce collected so far this year.
Harvesting of the Arboretum’s produce began over the summer and will wrap up in November with the harvest of edible pumpkins and gourds. Volunteer’s meet at the Arboretum almost every Tuesday to harvest the fresh produce with crates of deliveries being made to the State Food College Bank on Wednesdays to help benefit members of the community in need.
“Each week can vary, but last year we ended up just shy of 2,000 pounds. Right now, we’re about at 1,900 pounds and some change,” Marek Pundzak, the Arboretum’s director of horticulture and operations highlighted.
The Arboretum is likely to harvest and donate about as much as it did to the State College Food Bank in 2023, if not more, as the edible pumpkins and gourds are ready next to be collected.
The program has been part of the Arboretum for more than six years, and while producing food may not be a main objective for the Arboretum, it does align with the garden’s outreach and extension goals in connecting with the broader local community.
“We like to connect with our people of Centre County, State College and the area proper. Our mission is to educate, inspire and to do the things that we are able to do in a sustainable nature,” Pundzak shared. “In a fashion where we try to not waste.”
Harvesting at the Arboretum is primarily done by a team of volunteers from different parts of the community and thanks to their work, hundreds of pounds of fresh produce have been donated to the food bank annually.
“My favorite part about this is that it helps connect the Arboretum to the local community in a way that might not be able to happen otherwise,” Aubrey Tallon, the Arboretum’s volunteer program manager noted. “We are a part of Penn State, and there’s a lot of focus on student success. But it’s also really important that we connect with the local community and that we provide a place for residents to have relaxation, enjoyment, experience beauty and also come out here and their hands dirty.”
Many of the Arboretum’s volunteers come out regularly to pitch in their green thumbs.
“We have a lot of reoccurring volunteers that come week to week. I would say there’s eight to 10 core volunteers and during the summer that extends to closer to 15,” Tallon highlighted. “A lot of them have been here. Rich (a regular volunteer) has been here for 14 to 15 years, as long as the Arboretum has existed and long before any of the employees who currently work here started.”
Crops such as corn, spinach, squash, Brussels sprouts, leeks, cabbages and much more are harvested from the Arboretum’s pollinator garden and children’s garden. The choices of what to grow each season and where to have it grow is intentional as the Arboretum’s displays are meant to garner inspiration and be a teaching tool for its volunteers and visitors.
“Our pollinator garden is set in a landscape that’s obviously meant to be used by our native fauna and flora — our pollinators — and the crops that we choose, and grow are part of that equation,” Pundzak explained. “What’s fun about it is that it also needs to be attractive because what we’re trying to do is inspire people by saying ‘hey, you can create a garden that’s beautiful but also has a bounty to it.’”
Pundzak emphasized that it really doesn’t take a huge plot of land to produce a good amount of homegrown food and how the Arboretum grows its crops demonstrates that.
“It’s very intentional why we have these small little beds broken up between sidewalks,” Pundzak continued. “They’re meant to replicate people’s properties and spaces you might have at your disposal to work with.”
Programs at the Arboretum, including the harvest donations that go to the food bank, gives volunteers the opportunity to work alongside professionals which Pundzak said helps “pollinate” the effort into the world.
Harvesting at the Arboretum to donate to the State College Food Bank is wrapping up for the season, but the Arboretum at Penn State as more volunteer opportunities and initiatives coming up, especially in the spring. For more information about the Arboretum and how to volunteer can be found online at arboretum.psu.edu.
The State College Food Bank is located at 169 Gerald St., State College and more information can be found at scfoodbank.org.
