Mission and Goals The JMU Edible Forest Garden (EFG) works to advance the mission of the university by offering unique and innovative educational and service-learning opportunities for students and other learners. A central focus of the EFG is to enhance awareness of perennial food production and urban forestry. Furthermore, the Forest Garden seeks to elevate the environmental sustainability of the institution by expanding pollinator habitat, restoring marginal soils, improving localized nutrient cycling, enhancing biodiversity, and providing local produce to the campus and community.
Our Team The JMU EFG is led by Dr. Mikaela Schmitt-Harsh but is a collaborative initiative involving faculty, staff, and students across different disciplines and colleges. Students have taken active and lead roles to support this project, including growing plants from seed in the greenhouse, collating information and resources on plant guilds, documenting and photographing changes in plant phenology, and developing a social media presence for the project.
Funding and Support The project was made possible by a generous donation from Danone N.A. through JMU Foundations. Additional support for the project came from a Virginia Trees for Clean Water (VTCW) grant, which is funded by the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDOF).
News and Recognitions The Edible Forest Garden is described and/or featured in the following articles:
- “Hot? Hungry? Step inside these food forests”, Grist, Jan 29, 2024. URL here.
- “Forest foods can bring climate resilience, better health, and tasty produce to city residents”, Popular Science, Apr 17, 2023. URL here.
- “JMU students to roll up sleeves to celebrate Arbor Day by volunteering”, Augusta Free Press, Apr 25, 2024. URL here.
- “JMU’s edible food forest offers unique and innovative learning opportunities”, JMU CISE News, Feb 11, 2022. URL here.
- “Tree planting at JMU Edible Forest Garden”, JMU News, Oct 13, 2021, URL here.
- JMU student profile, Elena Finelli from the Edible Forest Garden, Undergraduate Admissions, URL here and video here.
Picture captions. Project start date and volunteer tree planting day (2021-10-15) (row 1, pic 1, 2, 3). Caging trees to slow deer damage (2021-11-19) (row 1, pic 4). Digging an underground drip irrigation system (2022-04-28) (row 2, pic 1). Mulching and tree growth (2022-09-09) (row 2, pic 2). Tree pruning workshop (2023-02-24) (row 2, pic 3). Trees VA Board visiting the forest garden (2023-03-08) (row 2, pic 4). Early plum bloom (2023-03-02) (row 3, pic 1). Pollination of locust (2023-05-17) (row 4, pic 2). Jostaberries (2023-06-12) (row 4, pic 3). Plum fruit with yellow jacket (2023-06-23) (row 4, pic 4).