The New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station’s course teaches undergraduates and the public how to break into farming

R. Emmet Brennan and Amy Hsieh working in the greenhouse near Heylar House
Photo: Nick Romanenko

'There seem to be a resurgence of young people who are interested in farming and want to know where there food is coming from, but they don’t know where to get started. The average age of a farmer in New Jersey is 58. We need younger farmers or we are in big trouble, so we are trying to take a spark of interest and help it grow.’
 
– Bill Hlubik

Many of the students living in Helyar House at Rutgers grow plants on their window sills and have “No Farmer, No Food’’ bumper stickers on their cars.

They cook meals for each other, do all the cleaning and grocery shopping, and maintain the building in exchange for scholarships and reduced housing costs. The history of Heylar House – a cooperative living residence hall that opened nearly 50 years ago to provide low-cost housing to agriculture students who couldn’t afford to live on campus – remains an important influence over the people who live there.

It’s also the inspiration behind an effort by a group of Helyar House students to grow their own food and raise chickens this year as part of a new Rutgers program called RU Ready to Farm.

“Agriculture is part of the history of Helyar House,’’ said R. Emmet Brennan, a junior plant science major and president of the governing council for the residence hall which is located on Rutgers University-New Brunswick’s George H. Cook Campus and accepts undergraduates from the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

“Helyar House is the only reason I am able to attend Rutgers, because of the financial opportunities it grants me and the fact that founders Frank Helyar and Richard Merritt made sure generations of students like myself can attend college,'' he said. “I want to make sure that history is preserved.’’

Brennan had wanted Helyar House to reconnect with its agricultural roots since his first year on campus and found other students who shared his interest in growing some of their own food. But they faced a major obstacle: the academic year does not coincide with the growing season in New Jersey.

The students shared their idea with Bill Hlubik, a professor and agricultural agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension who is an adviser for Helylar House. Hlublik was developing a new program for the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station that would provide research-based classes to New Jersey residents interested in learning about farming.

Eventually the two ideas came together. Hlubik found a greenhouse near the residence hall that was available, making it possible to grow food during the school year. He found local farmers who were willing to donate plants and seeds, and enlisted the help of a student who had experience in the building industry to help design a chicken coop.

The students are growing kale, Swiss chard, lettuce, lavender, several kinds of mint, basil and rosemary. They plan to grow tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries and other vegetables and will do research on how the plants thrive and produce in a greenhouse. Part of their research project involves figuring out the best combination of plants to grow and the amount of food they will be able to produce.

The students already have started using fresh herbs from their green house for dinners and expect to be eating more of what they grow by Thanksgiving.

Bill Hlubik speaks with Helyar House students Roger Forest Locandro and Carlos Carrero at the greenhouse.
Photo: Nick Romanenko

“There seem to be a resurgence of young people who are interested in farming and want to know where there food is coming from, but they don’t know where to get started,’’ Hlubik said. “The average age of a farmer in New Jersey is 58. We need younger farmers or we are in big trouble, so we are trying to take a spark of interest and help it grow.’’

Hlubik turned the RU Ready to Farm program into a multi-tiered course. Residents of Helyar House and other Rutgers students who want to work in the greenhouse and get involved in research projects can earn 3 credits for their work. Hlubik also helped design a three-day, 15-hour training course through NJAES that begins Saturday at the Rutgers EcoComplex in Bordentown and is open to general the public for a fee or to Rutgers students as a 1-credit course.

RU Ready to Farm offers a nuts and bolts introduction to farming and covers topics including how to apply for grants to buy land, make a business plan and do recordkeeping. There will be speakers from the state and federal departments of agriculture, the Farm Services Agency and New Jersey Farm Bureau. The class ends on Nov. 5 with a tour and demonstration at Specca Farms in Bordentown.

About half of the 40 students who live in Helyar House have signed up for the course and Hlubik said there are still spaces available for the general public. NJAES faculty are working to design two future sessions of the course that will focus on growing specialty products and other aspects of production.

“This is so different than the standard college experience,’’ said Amy Hsieh, a junior environmental science major who lives in Helyar house. “I was just in the greenhouse picking some basil for dinner.’’

“You don't how much we spend on groceries every week but it is a crazy amount,’’ she said. “Having fresh vegetables – instead of frozen that you don’t know where they came from – is so different. Fresh vegetables have way more flavor and watching your food grow is awesome.’’


For media inquiries contact Andrea Alexander at aalexander@ucm.rutgers.edu or 848-932-0556