Wells College Garden + Kitchen Project

Starting in June 2021, two Wells College faculty members (Ernie Olson and Laura McClusky) and the Director of Sustainability (Marian Brown), began a research project on gardening and cooking in Southern Cayuga. We received a small research grant from Wells College to investigate local gardeners’ approaches to gardening, and how they might use the vegetables they grow.

We are pleased to say that our grant was renewed and so we will be working on the Kitchen + Garden project again during the summer of 2022. This year Professor Jenny Myers joins us, as well as three new student researchers, Alanna Reidler, BrierMae Ossont and Benny McMonagle.

The first summer the research grant allowed us to hire three students (Angiee Otterbein, James Stover and Feleesha Jones) and to buy a few cameras to collect visual data. In early July 2021, Angiee, James and Feleesha started contacting people who recently made use of the Wells College Seed Exchange to see if they might be interested in participating in the project. Angiee and James recently graduated from Wells College and we wish them luck in all they do!

This year we’ll be expanding our data collection to include people who vend at the Aurora Farmer’s Market. Alanna, BrierMae and Benny will continue to interview gardeners and record their garden tours.

This website and blog will be updated as we progress through the project, so stay tuned for updates, images, quotes, recipes, tips and tricks for gardening in the region and cooking what you grow. We hope you join us in tales about the educational experience, the research project, and the specific topics local gardeners find important.