BGSU Zoom News

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Felver collection garners two literary prizes | The Oaks explores hydroponic gardening

Brad Felver

Combination of grief, violence pays off in Brad Felver’s first book

Bowling Green State University lecturer Brad Felver had quite the year in 2018, winning two major awards: the Drue Heinz Literary Prize and O. Henry Prize Story.

“In the fiction writing world, especially when you’re a fairly young writer like I still am, the Heinz Prize is this vaguely ludicrous prize that nobody ever expects to win,” said Felver, associate chair and undergraduate coordinator in the Department of English. “But, every now and then, lightning strikes.”

Felver won the Heinz Prize, which includes a $15,000 cash award along with publication by the University of Pittsburgh Press, for his 14-story collection “The Dogs of Detroit.” One of the stories also won an O. Henry Prize, an annual showcase of the year's 20 best stories published in American and Canadian magazines. “Queen Elizabeth” was originally published in the literary magazine One Story.

Manuscripts are judged anonymously by nationally known writers. Past judges have included Joyce Carol Oates, Raymond Carver, Margaret Atwood, Rick Moody and Joan Didion.

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Paige Wieman (right) and Dave Beaverson with just-harvested lettuce and dill from The Oaks new hydroponic garden station.

Growing green with hydroponics
The Oaks pioneers future of sustainable gardening

Bowling Green State University Dining is experimenting with hydroponic garden technology in The Oaks dining hall. Hydroponic gardening is different from traditional gardening in that minimal soil and no pesticides are used in the process. Instead, the plants live in water and get nutrients from liquid fertilizers.

In October, BGSU Dining Director Michael Paulus brought a team of dining services faculty together to research hydroponic gardening and the types of systems that would work best in a college environment. The team settled on a five-tower system that will reside in The Oaks, where University dietitian Paige Wieman can keep a close eye on the growing process and students can learn more about the project.

Wieman, a BGSU alumna, has spent her free time contributing to the garden’s success. From seed to harvest, she monitors the health of the plants and has found that the process is “a tedious game of trial and error.”

“We tried to come up with food that Shoots, our vegan station in The Oaks, would actually use,” Wieman said. “I researched what grows well in hydroponic systems and it was mainly lettuces, herbs, some peppers, baby tomatoes and berries.”

Hydroponic plants grow year-round and their growth rate is higher than traditionally farmed plants. Each tower will have different harvesting times, and Wieman expects to collect produce from the five planters about 30-40 times over the course of the year.