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Thank You Jane!

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by Julia St.Clair, BTLT Agricultural Programs Coordinator

Jane with a group of Common Good Garden Volunteers

As the Tom Settlemire Community Garden (TSCG) is wrapping up the 2022 growing season, we would like to take this opportunity to give a huge shout out to our summer Environmental Studies Fellow from Bowdoin College, Jane Olsen! 

Jane dug in right away, coming to the Garden with little gardening experience, but quickly learning while working alongside other gardeners in the TSCG community. Jane even had the chance to tend her own plot at TSCG, successfully growing leeks, carrots, herbs, and a seemingly endless bounty of tomatoes! Jane brought her passion for building community and love for the outdoors to TSCG.

Jane working on Orchard research with Glenn Wildes

Over the summer, Jane worked alongside volunteers in the Common Good Garden, supporting and leading weekly workdays. She also joined the volunteer team supporting the New Mainers garden at TSCG, adding an extra set of hands to support this ambitious project. Additionally, Jane spent the summer researching and chatting with local experts about orchard care, drafting up an orchard care and maintenance plan for the TSCG orchard and learning more about the history of how these blueberry bushes, peach trees, and apple trees came to grow at TSCG. 

As an avid writer, Jane tackled a personal project while working at TSCG: interviewing and profiling a handful of TSCG plot holders from new to longtime gardeners. Her articles tell the stories of garden community members and offer the advice they shared for interested gardeners. These stories put faces to some of the many plots in the garden, reminding us just how many hands go into growing TSCG. In these articles Jane also highlights many of the different growing styles and gardening knowledge backgrounds that TSCG gardeners bring to the space. You can check out her articles on the BTLT blog. 

Jane with MCHPP Fellow Liliana and BTLT intern Cora

Collaborating with a Bowdoin Fellow from Midcoast Hunger Prevention Program, Liliana, and BTLT intern Cora, Jane worked to plan and host a successful volunteer appreciation event at the Garden. The event included live music, treats from Wild Oats and Mere Point Oyster Co, and a raffle for volunteers. Jane also returned this fall to volunteer in the Common Good Garden and helped host the Garden’s annual-ish ‘Plot Luck’ event with members from across the garden community.

We are so grateful to have had Jane join us this past summer and we hope that she will continue to expand her gardening knowledge. We wish her the best of luck with her continued studies at Bowdoin and hope that she will come back to visit us at TSCG often!

BTLT In the News: “The wonders of Woodward Point Preserve”

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“The Wonders of Woodward Point Preserve”

By Jane Olsen, The Bowdoin Orient

After weeks of exploring the natural beauty around Bowdoin’s campus, each location has both astounded me and reminded me of the endless opportunities we have to explore the beauty of Maine. As my last column of the year, Woodward Point Preserve is no exception.

Through winding trails between the trees, this preserve offers secluded access to the coast. With five different pathways—none more than half a mile long—there is something for everyone within these trails. Wooden benches along the way invite the passerby to sit and watch the sea while wildflowers beckon visitors to take a closer look.

The drive to this destination is only ten minutes from Bowdoin. As the road nears the Preserve, signs for quaint side streets like Oyster Ledge and Periwinkle Lane hint towards simple delights within reach.

At the end of the road, between two red barns, you’ll find a parking lot bustling with visitors. These barns are physical remnants of the previous occupants of the land, a farming operation that grew hay and cared for dairy and beef cows.

In an effort to keep the land open to the public, the Cook-Ellis family sold their farm to The Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) in 2019. The MCHT has partnered with the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust and numerous private contributors to raise funds and manage ownership. This preserve is one of many conservation efforts by the MCHT from Kittery to Lubec, Maine. As articulated on their website, the organization prioritizes access, climate resilience and community support.

The Preserve boasts a 1.5 mile network of trails, 87.5 acres of upland, 38 acres of subtidal wetlands and four acres of fringing salt marsh. As one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land in northern Casco Bay, the intertidal lands include valuable shellfish beds, high-value waterfowl and wading bird habitats. The nearby New Meadows River also supports one of the fastest growing aquaculture industries in the state. Not only is Woodward Point a location rich with conservation efforts, but it is also a collection of gasp-worthy trails and seaside views.

A visit at low tide reveals the stunning geological formations emerging from the turquoise water. At each access point to the water, stone steps provide easy access down to the shoreline for dipping your toes into the refreshing current or leaning into the breeze. If you’re lucky you may spot a blue heron, bald eagle or bobolink.

Back on land, woodpeckers, foxes, porcupines and racoons meander through the trees. Aside from searching for animals, this preserve offers a kayak launching point and in the winter, a short loop for snowshoeing or Nordic skiing. For younger visitors, the MCHT offers maps with themes such as fairies or pirates to foster education of the land.

Encouraging knowledge of the environment around us is vital to protecting the future of Maine’s natural landscapes. I hope that by highlighting a few locations around and beyond campus I have sparked your interest in finding pleasure in the outdoors and aiding efforts to conserve such beauty.

To read the full article online, click here.