'Edible Landscaping' brings fresh gardening ideas to campus

Rosalind Creasy, known for coining the term “edible landscaping,” paid a visit to Mercyhurst University on Tuesday, April 23, to bring ideas on the topic of using vegetables and fresh produce to spruce up their gardens.

“Edible landscaping takes vegetable gardens from the traditional row patch and turns it into artwork. It’s planting produce to draw the eye, working with color and textures to make something beautiful,” sustainability officer Brittany Prischak said.Taylor Rollins photo: Members of the Erie community sold out Taylor Little Theatre to see Rosalind Creasy’s lecture on edible landscaping.Taylor Rollins photo: Members of the Erie community sold out Taylor Little Theatre to see Rosalind Creasy’s lecture on edible landscaping.

Creasy, who started off playing around with her garden and using the produce and plants in unconventional ways, began raising awareness of the movement after she realized how great this art was, as most of her neighborhood noticed her work and thoroughly enjoyed it.

“It breaks out of the shell of vegetable gardens and makes them more fun,” Prischak said.

The school hopes to promote the concept with two of their projects: the greenhouse that is being built as part of the senior class gift, which brings gardening to the students of the Main campus.

There are also plans to plant the Sister Maura Smith garden, which will combine perennial and native plants with berries and herbs to bring life to the area near the Mercy Walkway.

For more information on edible landscaping, visit http://www.rosalindcreasy.com.