Painted Turtle Farm

Painted Turtle Farm Home | Environmental Education | Green Goodies | Compost Program

The Painted Turtle Farm is a student-run organic garden at Gettysburg College, which generates herbs and produce that is either utilized by the College's Dining Services or is donated to campus kitchens.  Student volunteers are involved in all aspects of small scale organic agriculture and manage projects year-round, from planning, planting, growing, and harvesting a variety of fruits and vegetables, to improving soil integrity and biodiversity in the ecosystem, to reaching out and educating the student body and local community about the importance of local and sustainable agriculture.  We welcome students from all backgrounds and experience levels to come join us and learn about organic food production. 

 

The program won state and national honors in RecycleMania's 2008 Food Service Organics competition, placing fifth in Pennsylvania and 37^th nationally. The garden offers environmental education to students of Gettysburg College as well as helps educate local children through the Green Goodies program.

The Painted Turtle Farm also offers three student internships each summer and we're always looking for more students to get involved! 

Location: The garden is located on roughly 3/4 of an acre northwest of campus, past the West Building next to the Observatory. Currently, a 4,000 sq ft plot is under production. One room in the greenhouse adjacent to the Science Center is also reserved for the student garden to start crops in the early spring, grow herbs for their annual fundraiser, and extend the growing season during the fall and winter months.

History: The Painted Turtle Farm Organic Student Garden at Gettysburg College was initiated during the 2005-2006 academic year as a senior project of student Freya Gibbon '07 with the support of several other Gettysburg College students and Dr. Randall Wilson of the Environmental Studies Department. Grant funding was provided by the Mellon Grant for Faculty Student Research, the Center for Public Service, the Environmental Studies Department, and by the student environmental club, GECO. The farm is named after a small friend found at the garden site in 2005 after a heavy rainstorm. Four students worked as interns the first summer: Jason Cessna, Freya Gibbon, Christopher Martin, and Dominique Shaw, all Environmental Studies majors.

For more information about weekly meetings, contact:
Sara Tower '12 (Student Director/Summer Intern) - towesa01@gettysburg.edu
Hannah Grose '13 (Summer Intern) - grosha02@gettysburg.edu
Erin Richards '13 (Summer Intern) - richer03@gettysburg.edu
Jo Ann Zeman (Faculty Advisor) - jzeman@gettysburg.edu
Randy Wilson (Faculty Advisor) - rwilson@gettysburg.edu