Jumbos walking up or down the steps of Tisch Library this semester have found a new feature lining their path to late nights of hitting the books — corn.
Alongside nutritional staples like green mustard, garlic chives and the leafy southeast Asian vegetable taro, the corn stands over the latest initiative of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, a demonstration garden occupying valuable real estate at the entry to Tisch and serving as a monument to the diversity and potential of New England agriculture.
New Entry is a project that originated with the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy's Agriculture, Food, and Environment (AFE) Program that brings together multiple organizations at the state and local level to provide support for local and international farmers.
The leafy exhibit was a collaboration between Tisch Library, members of the the New Entry project and the Tufts Facilities Services Department, according Tisch Social Science Librarian Laurie Sabol, who was a main contributor to the planning and creation of the garden.
The variety of plants is meant to showcase the work of the New Entry project, as well as to reveal the possibilities — allowed by even Massachusetts' fickle weather — to the less agriculturally minded.
"It showcases the project … by showing the crops that our farmers are growing," New Entry Project Developer and Friedman School adjunct assistant professor Hugh Joseph said. "We are trying to build awareness to the student body and the staff and faculty [as well as] an interest in local agriculture."
Joseph said the garden's organizers attempted to create a unique combination of agricultural staples from around the world. "We are intentionally showcasing items that are unusual or unfamiliar," he said.
The idea has roots that have been growing for a while, Sabol said.
"We developed the idea over the winter … between December and March," she said. Old ground made way for new seeds when "sometime in early spring, what had been in here previously was pulled out," she added. "Between late March and early April, once the ground was soft enough, planting began."
Sabol said the project has been a success, with the vegetables staying in the ground or in the hands of humans, as intended. "It has gone very well," she said. "We have not had any issues with pests such as squirrels."
The garden has sprouted everything from opal basil to eggplant, maize and millet — a testament to the truly vast range of plants that can call New England soil home.
Each side of the garden contains brick walkways in order to make it easier for the food to be harvested and subsequently distributed.
The visibility of the plantings and the curiosity they have sparked have made a positive impact on the overarching educational goals of the project, Sabol said.
"I couldn't be happier with how it looks and how many questions we have gotten from students and visitors about it," she said.
Because of the high level of maintenance required to keep the garden in shape and the impending end of the harvesting season, its friendly presence outside Tisch's main entrance may be winding down, Sabol said.
"Soon it is going to be completely harvested. It will have lived a really good life, and will have given people a lot of good food."
