{"id":355,"date":"2013-12-23T12:54:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/?page_id=355"},"modified":"2023-04-27T13:58:06","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T17:58:06","slug":"ocg","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/","title":{"rendered":"Orono Community Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/a> water quality and soil specialist John Jemison<\/a> is much more than a farmer or gardener \u2014 he\u2019s a community leader and visionary for Maine\u2019s future. In 2004, the first community garden in Orono started and Jemison began to change people\u2019s ideas on gardening, sustainability and healthy lifestyles.<\/p>\n

With Jemison\u2019s organization and help from students and volunteers, the project has grown into a reliable source of food, with garden space expanding every season and a second garden added recently by an outside organization. Although these gardens share the same area, bordering the Orono Senior Center on Birch Street, the two gardens have two distinctly different goals.<\/p>\n

The original garden, started by Jemison himself, began on the inspiration of a five month sabbatical in Italy where he said he \u201cadopted the principals and practices\u201d of small Italian farming. After seeing the Italians use even the smallest spaces for growing crops, Jemison knew there was plenty of opportunity for a community garden in Orono.<\/p>\n

The second and more recent garden was also started in 2004 as a part of the Children\u2019s International Summer Villages<\/a> to be used as a multi-generational garden to offer a variety of programs for all ages.<\/p>\n

CISV is an international program started by Old Town native and UMaine graduate Doris Twitchell Allen, with the goal being for young people to achieve a broader knowledge of the world through various educational programs.<\/p>\n

The main purpose of the CISV garden is to produce food for a monthly meal at the Bangor Area Homeless Shelter. This meal provides food for 100 people and is served 10 months out of the year. The garden not only provides food for a tremendous effort, it is also visually appealing with symmetry and perfectly tended rows of vibrant vegetables. This garden also offers the application of cooking skills after the raw food is brought to the homeless shelter to be prepared.<\/p>\n

The original community garden sits behind the Senior Center and makes an equally grand contribution to the community. \u201cThe intention is different,\u201d said Jemison, as he explained where the food from his garden goes. There are 50 recipients in the Orono area who receive five pounds of fresh vegetables per week. \u201cPeople get to eat food that they normally wouldn\u2019t be able to buy,\u201d said Jemison. \u201cI had a lady tell me that she lost 20 pounds because she was eating better than she would have otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteers make it all possible, gardening on Saturdays and Tuesdays, along with bagging and delivering the food every Tuesday night. Unfortunately, as the sunlight becomes limited and the winter season nears, the food given away from the garden usually stops in late September.<\/p>\n

Jemison has been the leader in the community garden movement, but it is the helping hands of the community that makes the gardens thrive. Back in 2004, Jemison started with a 30-bed garden and \u201cover the years people have come and asked for garden space,\u201d reported Jemison. The farmer\u2019s market in Orono<\/a> has even donated money for the gardens and often gives away left over product at the end of the market to add to the community garden\u2019s food. Incoming UMaine freshmen often work in the garden to lend a helping hand.<\/p>\n

Not only do the gardens provide quality food for the community, but Jemison believes it \u201cteaches gardening methods [\u2026] and healthier lifestyles.\u201d Knowing that the average American diet doesn\u2019t meet the required vegetable intake, it was important for Jemison to be able to provide a good resource in his community.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy Edwin Remsberg.<\/p>\n

Back To Top<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Office of Sustainability<\/strong>
\n312-314 Corbett Hall
\nOrono, Maine 04469-5774
\nTel: 207.581.1571
\nsustainability@maine.edu<\/a><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

University of Maine Cooperative Extension water quality and soil specialist John Jemison is much more than a farmer or gardener \u2014 he\u2019s a community leader and visionary for Maine\u2019s future. In 2004, the first community garden in Orono started and Jemison began to change people\u2019s ideas on gardening, sustainability and healthy lifestyles. With Jemison\u2019s organization […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"parent":94,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/page-withsidebar.php","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-355","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nOrono Community Garden - Office of Sustainability - University of Maine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Orono Community Garden - Office of Sustainability - University of Maine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"University of Maine Cooperative Extension water quality and soil specialist John Jemison is much more than a farmer or gardener \u2014 he\u2019s a community leader and visionary for Maine\u2019s future. In 2004, the first community garden in Orono started and Jemison began to change people\u2019s ideas on gardening, sustainability and healthy lifestyles. With Jemison\u2019s organization […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Office of Sustainability\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-27T17:58:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"282\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/\",\"name\":\"Orono Community Garden - Office of Sustainability - University of Maine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-23T17:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-27T17:58:06+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Local Community\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/?page_id=94\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Orono Community Garden\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/\",\"name\":\"Office of Sustainability\",\"description\":\"University of Maine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Orono Community Garden - Office of Sustainability - University of Maine","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Orono Community Garden - Office of Sustainability - University of Maine","og_description":"University of Maine Cooperative Extension water quality and soil specialist John Jemison is much more than a farmer or gardener \u2014 he\u2019s a community leader and visionary for Maine\u2019s future. In 2004, the first community garden in Orono started and Jemison began to change people\u2019s ideas on gardening, sustainability and healthy lifestyles. With Jemison\u2019s organization […]","og_url":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/","og_site_name":"Office of Sustainability","article_modified_time":"2023-04-27T17:58:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":282,"url":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/","url":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/","name":"Orono Community Garden - Office of Sustainability - University of Maine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-23T17:54:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-27T17:58:06+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/162\/2013\/12\/33-John-Jemison.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/community__trashed\/ocg\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Local Community","item":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/?page_id=94"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Orono Community Garden"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/#website","url":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/","name":"Office of Sustainability","description":"University of Maine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"dixonda1","author_link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/author\/dixonda1\/"},"comment_info":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/399"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":400788,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/355\/revisions\/400788"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/sustainability\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}