44 OregonStater.org OEHLER: STEPHEN WARD; FOOD FOREST: BECCA HARMONSON, ’25 ← Nellie Oehler (at left), ’64, co-founded the Master Food Preserver program in 1980. Jeanne Brandt, ’82, wrote to tell us no Oregon Stater food issue would be complete without a mention of her — or the teddy bear- and alligator-shaped bread she baked for Master Food Preservers who had reached more than 100 hours of volunteer time. ↑ The current campus Food Forest was designed and planted by Milo Tisdale, a third-year botany and horticulture student. During the 2025 growing season, he estimates the garden grew about 1,300 pounds of produce and supplied 550 pounds to the Basic Needs Center. WHEN end-of-summer harvest season kicks in, OSU Extension Service’s food safety and preservation helpline gets to work. “Safely preserving and storing foods can be challenging to do well, and potentially dangerous if not done properly,” said Jared Hibbard-Swanson, food security and safety program manager at OSU Extension. “The OSU helpline gives those folks who are canning, drying and freezing foods at home a chance to leave a voicemail with their questions and get a call back from a trained volunteer.” In 2025, the toll-free hotline, staffed by certified Master Food Preserver volunteers, started taking calls on July 7 and wrapped up on Oct. 10. But even when summer garden beds have been tucked in for the winter, the line remains open at 800-3547319 and is checked weekly. Resources are also available online at beav.es/preserve-resources. Nellie Oehler,’64, co-founded Oregon’s Master Food Preserver program in 1980 and was one of the original authors of the Master Food Preserver handbook. Until retiring this October, she taught generations of Oregonians to can food and bake bread through OSU Extension, where she began working soon after graduating with a degree in food and nutrition. Extension continues to be the go-to place for reliable, research-based information, she said. “The internet really changed things, because there’s so much information out there now that’s not right. People say, ‘I did it just like they did on YouTube, and I haven’t died yet,’” she said, laughing. “Well, that’s fine, but you might tomorrow!” One of Oehler’s favorite things is seeing how much learning about food and food preservation changes volunteers’ lives, and how much they enjoy sharing that knowledge with others. There are now more than 300 Master Food Preservers who complete an eight-week course and volunteer on the helpline and at workshops. To learn how to join them, see beav.es/extension-preserve. FROM the quiet shade of towering sequoias to the sunny green lawns crisscrossed with walking paths, Oregon State’s Corvallis campus is a thing of beauty. With all their effort to maintain that beauty, university landscaping staff want people to take full advantage of OSU’s outdoor spaces. In fact, if landscape manager Todd Cross had his way, the campus would be “complete, utter chaos,” he said. “Everybody everywhere.” But did you know some of the landscape is as snackable as it is scenic? Behind Callahan Hall, across from the parking lot on Southwest 15th Street, is the Food Forest managed by University Housing and Dining Services. Anyone can walk through and sample from the pear, fig, mulberry and apple trees. Just pay attention to signage; several plants (like the zucchini) are grown specifically for the Basic Needs Center. There’s also a smaller food forest at the southeast corner of the Student Experience Center with raspberries, blueberries, gooseber7 NO. OSU EXTENSION HAS TAUGHT GENERATIONS HOW TO PRESERVE THE HARVEST SAFELY. EVEN THE CORVALLIS CAMPUS IS NOW (PARTIALLY) EDIBLE. ries and persimmons.And there are blueberry bushes by the entrance of the Linus Pauling Science Center, and more outside the childcare center on Southwest 11th Street. Cross said landscaping staff never spray harmful chemicals on plants that people might eat, so enjoy to your heart’s content. Fun fact: OSU is one of the best seed sources for female ginkgo trees in the country. After careful processing to remove the harmful outer layer, ginkgo nuts are edible and popular in East Asian cuisine, but female trees have been nearly eliminated in the U.S. nursery industry because they’re messy (and very, very stinky) when fruiting. OSU happens to have a row of female ginkgo trees by Wiegand Hall, and the university contracts with multiple companies that visit campus a couple times a year to harvest the seeds. Where else could you pick a pear on your way to class and savor more than a century of food innovation in every mouthful? 8NO.
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