Mansfield's Liberty Park dates back to the 1930s, when residents raised the money to buy 24 acres with a small creek on the city's Northeast Side, according to Richland County archives.
After years of decline, the park is now seeing a revival — including a new skatepark, basketball courts and free sports equipment rentals.
Jason Ogg, a local resident, hopes to contribute to that revival. On a recent summer afternoon, he could be seen wandering into an unused portion of the park, where fallen trees and overgrown brush have made the area it inaccessible to casual visitors.
“We see a creek that's along a flood plain, a bridge that needs some infrastructural repair done, and really an area that is hard to develop from a conventional standpoint," Ogg said as he surveyed the area.
But he aims to transform the space through permaculture — the practice of mimicking natural ecosystems through gardening.
What is permaculture?
Ogg is the founder of Mansfield Permaculture, a landscaping company that creates sustainable, low-maintenance gardens. Many of his practices are inspired by the jungles of Papua New Guinea, where Ogg grew up while his parents did mission work. He returned to Mansfield to be closer to family.
“I saw a sense of permanence in the way that the people interacted with the land and the way they understood the land," Ogg said. "In the U.S., there's a lot of ways that we don't appropriately utilize the gifts that the earth gives us.”
For example, Ogg said most gardens are created with aesthetics in mind. But through the concept of permaculture, those gardens can work in tandem with the plot of land on which they’re developed, no matter how big or small, sunny or shady. Permaculture embraces the land as it is, rather than modifying it to accommodate specific plants or scenery.
“So if we have shade on a property, the solution isn't just to cut down a tree in order to open up light, but what kinds of shade-tolerant, perennial vegetables can we plant on site? Or maybe we could inoculate mushroom beds," Ogg explained.
A 2024 study determined that farms applying concepts of permaculture saw better soil quality and biodiversity than traditional farms. The study also found that bird species richness was 197% higher on permaculture sites than on control fields.
Permaculture’s popularity has grown since the term was coined in the 1970s. Certification courses are now available and programs are even popping up at major colleges, including Oregon State University. Ogg said he's currently enrolled at the nonprofit Cincinnati Permaculture Institute.
Ogg said he's encountered some skeptics who are attached to common farming and landscaping methods, like tilling soil and using fertilizers, but he attributes the hesitancy to lack of knowledge.
"I think that there are plenty of well-meaning people who are just managing their land in the way that they know how to," Ogg said. "We're looking at just a lot of education opportunities, meeting with farmers, having conversations with them."
Creating food sources
One type of permaculture, food forests, produce food year-round. They might include nut trees and berry bushes accompanied by mushroom beds and medicinal plants on the forest floor, Ogg said.
“As you walk through and harvest them and cycle biomass from the canopy, you are feeding soil life, you're restoring biodiversity, and you are creating habitats and spaces that the public can walk through," he added.
Ogg hopes planting food forests can help combat food insecurity, which has increased in Richland County since the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 16% of the county is food insecure, according to recent data, and the need for food assistance is increasing, said Alesha Lee, who manages the Catholic Charities HOPE Food Pantry in Mansfield. The pantry has seen a 30% increase in visitors this year, she said.
“And not only are we seeing more clients, but we are seeing larger household sizes, where families are merging together to try to make ends meet, so we're seeing household sizes of 10 to 11 come in now," Lee said.
The pantry has also suffered a 25% decrease in donations from food banks and other distributors, meaning it’s relying more on community support, Lee added.
Closing that gap is one of the main reasons Ogg says he created Mansfield Permaculture. In addition to creating food forests, he also leads workshops on growing and preserving produce, as well as how to cook with seasonal fruits, veggies and herbs.
“We really believe that a multi-faceted approach to tackling this problem is best, and that looks like community education around how to grow food on whatever space you have, whether that's an apartment building or you have a larger lot to work with," he said.
Mansfield Permaculture recently completed its first community food forest installation, which Ogg said he hopes will be followed by many others.
