New Campus Vegetable Garden Launched August 2008
A half-acre student-run garden plot now exists on campus to grow pesticide-free food for the student dining hall. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff have contributed more than 1,000 hours of work in the garden--planting, cultivating, and mulching the beds, and putting ground cover around the perimeter. Compost is produced by collecting food waste from Oliver Hall, Cafe Louis and the catering service. The educational benefits include increased understanding of the food production process and greater awareness of the nutritional and environmental benefits of local, pesticide-free food.
Everyone is welcome to work in the garden. Available times are shown here. Julia Welch, a qualified garden steward, oversees its design and operation, and organizes student teams to maintain the garden.
The site -- which the Freshman class has named The Legacy Garden -- was dedicated on April 1 in a ceremony that included students, faculty and staff. Check out the photo slideshow.
The motto of the garden is "By the students, for the students, and, ultimately, in the students." This project enriches the theme of the 2008-09 First Year Experience Program: "Feast or Famine".
Funded by generous contributions from supporters of the college and members of the college community, the garden will reduce the college's environmental footprint by growing a portion of our own food supply.
Special thanks to Cheryl Jones and Earthbound Farm for their generous support of this project, and to The Foundation for Sustainability & Innovation for funding the purchase of a greenhouse. Read the story in The Collegian for more details. Related Article in the Chronicle of Higher Education
| ORIGINAL SITE OF NEW CAMPUS GARDEN
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| On August 26th, members of the Saint Mary's soccer team built the first of the garden's 90'x4' beds, using recycled wood from old bleachers in Madigan Gym:
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| Then on August 30th, 150 freshmen and student leaders turned out to put in additional beds, haul 65 tons of topsoil, and erect a fence around the site.
The first harvest took place on December 2nd, when freshly-picked Pak Choi, French Breakfast radishes, arugula and spicy greens were delivered to Oliver Hall. The last of the winter greens were harvested in mid-April, making way for the spring crops.
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