Gloucester County College was built on 250 acres of fertile Deptford farmland and now the tradition lives on with the school’s Community Gardens program.
Gloucester County College was built on 250 acres of fertile Deptford farmland in 1967. The agricultural tradition lives on with the school’s Community Gardens program, which allows people to rent a 600-square-foot plot for $20 to grow their own vegetables and flowers. Additional plots cost $5. Since the program’s inception in 1974, more than $35,000 has been raised for the College Foundation, a scholarship fund. Many gardeners return each year.“We had close to 50 people last year; it was one of our best turnouts,” says Henry Ryder, an avid gardener and economics professor at the college, who oversees the program. The college built a 300-gallon water tank for the gardeners, but there is no irrigation system, so many green thumbs bring jugs of water from home. “Last year it got very dry after spring,” Ryder says. None of the corn he planted last year came up, but he had nearly 200 pounds of butternut squash. Gardeners are mostly adults in their 30s to 70s. They grow tomatoes, string beans, lettuce, squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, okra, black-eyed peas, cilantro, parsnips, and flowers. It’s serious exercise, but more rewarding than a treadmill, especially when you put the food on the table.