IC Community Garden History

IC Community Garden History

By: Emma Hileman and Taryn Hubbard

Fall 2008:

Early in the fall semester an assignment was given out in Anne Stork’s Environmental Science Class to write a grant proposal for the Commit-to-Change grant, created by the Environmental Studies and Sciences Department. All groups were given the option to turn their grant in and work on the project or to just simply write the grant as a class exercise. We decided to create a proposal for an on-campus organic garden, an idea that had already been developing in our minds. A Pilot Lab Project was also required by the class and for this we interviewed many students on campus.As a result the lab showed that there was student interest across campus to have a community organic garden and access to fresh, local food on campus.

As we decided to make this dream of a garden real, we met with Roger Casterline and Chris Demkovich of Grounds and with their help scoped out potential garden sites on-campus. We had originally thought the hill near Emerson Hall looked good, but upon meeting with Roger, realized that this valley would be transformed into a dirt pile from the construction of the A&E Center. Though we were disheartened by that, Roger then showed us a plot of land located near the old Compost center on campus. It was big enough to grow food for many people, had a source of running water near it and was just a short walk through the woods. We decided to claim this spot as the future site of the IC Community Organic Garden.

Spring 2009:

In the spring semester we finalized our Commit-to-Change grant and turned it into the committee. We would not find out until April if we got the $500. In late March we knew that if we didn’t start seeds soon that we would not have much of a garden for the growing season. We started several seeds – peppers, eggplants, and leeks – in the CNS Greenhouse and continued this throughout May. At the beginning of April we were awarded the HSBC Commit-to-Change grant and began to acquire more seeds, plants, and tools with the money at the local Agway store in downtown Ithaca. We made sure to buy as many certified organic and heirloom seeds as possible with our limited funding. We were excited to finally have funding from the school to push this project forward.

In April we also created a Listserv through the school for those students and faculty interested in gardening and set-up a Gmail account for the garden. Both of these have been our primary way of contacting others in the group on a consistent basis. On April 14th we also made the effort to reach out for help in the community, meeting Melissa Madden from Dilmun Hill farm at Cornell and Monika Roth from Cornell Cooperative Extension. They both came to look at the area we were working with and gave their suggestions about how to go about recreating the space into a productive and long-lasting garden. They suggested we make raised beds, because of the very wet soil, and told us to start real small for the summer. We took their advice on the raised beds, but decided that we were going to persevere and build as much as we could for the first growing season.

On May 2nd we had our first garden work-day to begin building the raised beds. We had at least ten other students join us from all different schools and programs on campus – the Park School of Communications, Health Sciences and Human Performance, Humanities and Sciences, etc. We worked together to begin building the first raised bed out of cinder blocks and giant rocks. It was muddy, messy, and so much fun. It was great to see all of us working together, thinking things over, making decisions and taking action to create our own food. Everyone was exhausted by the end of that work-day.

Our turn out for the two other work-days on May 9th and 10th were slim, but the semester was soon coming to a close. We continued to work on the raised beds and eventually made three of them side by side. After the beds were made we put up a deer fence (with some material donated from a community member) and had created a fully functioning garden space.

Summer 2009:

Near the beginning we had a water pump and hoses bought with help from Marian Brown. We were planning to use the pump a bit farther upstream and then have it pumped to the garden with the hoses. Unfortunately, our pump was stolen a week after and we had to come up with another way to get water easily to the garden. Our question was answered when Chris Demkovich gave us permission to use the faucet in the greenhouse near the garden to hook up to our hoses. We now have a reliable water source all year round.

After all of our drawbacks, we knew that we had to press on and plant all that we could. We did it all in nearly one day. On June 10th we had our big planting day; twelve hours were spent moving from bed to bed, transplanting tomatoes and directly seeding greens. It was simultaneously one of the most exhausting and rewarding days. It was also bit disappointing because we didn't have much volunteer help (this also had something to do with the fact that it took us 12 hours to plant), but a wonderful day nonetheless.

As plants grew and there were fruits and vegetables ready for picking, a nasty weed known as Horsetail decided to grow just as fast as our delightful harvest. The weed took over the garden entirely. We believe that the horsetail likes the wet soil that was originally in the area, and we could not figure out a good way to eradicate it. We spent a lot of time weeding the garden and getting rid of wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of this prehistoric weed.

Although Horsetail seemed to be growing the best in our garden, the fruits, vegetables, and herbs started to flourish. We decided that anyone who had worked on the garden, students and faculty alike, would be able to reap the benefits. We were able to eat summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes (until the blight reached them and they began to die), peppers and cucumbers. As the season grew longer we were able to start eating our beets, onions, leeks, and carrots, and eventually moved on to some wonderful butternut squash in the fall. In August we got together and had a garden dinner with salad greens from our garden, cucumbers, squash, herbs, onions, and even delicious shitake mushrooms from the mushroom farm just up the trail near the garden. It was a scrumptious and fulfilling meal. We continued to keep track of the garden up until the start of school.

Fall 2009:

Tarynbegan independent research with Michael Smith on food systems. We read works on the problems of industrial agriculture, the benefits of a localized and homegrown food system, and more. In addition, we tried to coordinate with the Honors Program. She learned a great deal throughout the semester through thinking critically about food issues and horticulture. On the 5thof September we had our first work day of the fall semester. New students came (including a few first year students) and we were able to share the harvest with a few new faces. We also tabled at the Organization Fair for the new semester, showed off our still producing harvest, and acquired more names for our Listserv of potential growers. Additionally, Tristan Fowler of the Ithacan came to interview us and take pictures for The Ithacan's EcoBlog. This was our first opportunity for press, and we were glad to get the word out.

Throughout the semester, we also worked with a group from Paula Turkon's course Sustainability: Practices and Principles. They worked on outreach and a fall crop rotation plan for the garden. Although it was confusing at times, a solid crop rotation plan will come in handy when we begin to plant the following year, although we will have to adjust it for any summer crops that we wish to include. Outreach, however, is still an issue.

In October we submitted a proposal for an H&S Research Grant. In the grant proposal, we essentially discussed why we needed funding and how it would benefit ourselves and the college's efforts towards sustainability. We were not awarded funding, but have since learned many new essential tips on grant writing.
On November 1st and 8th we had our final fall work days. We composted plants and covered the plot with leaves delivered from grounds. A few new faces showed up for these days, again, and it was great to witness new people get involved. These work days were supposed to be in conjunction with The Honors Program, but no members showed up.

Spring 2010:

In Early February, Taryn registered The Organic Growers of Ithaca College as an official Ithaca College student organization. This was to give us access to SGA funding and greater outreach and accessibility within the campus community. We held an initial meeting for the spring semester and many new people – of all years and majors – were interested in being a part of the garden. As we began the semester we first tried to apply for several grants but were denied funding from any of them. In the end we managed to write up a budget proposal to the Student Government Association for funding and received upwards of $3,000 dollars. We began to create an expansion plan for the garden and ordered seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. Many of the seeds we ordered were of heirloom varieties. Taryn and Emma continued to work on horticultural research with Michael Smith and used practical hands-on material while supplementing that work with research from various sources. We started seeds in the CNS and Grounds greenhouse and watched our garden begin to grow. We also constructed a trail down to the garden from the bottom of Ithaca College and painted rocks with various vegetables that were lay down on the sides of the trail to invite others to the garden.

In early spring we began to build the garden. It was a slow process at first – but eventually grew momentum. We started by taking down all of the fencing and cinder blocks from the previous garden and laying out the size of the plot we intended to build. The next process involved buying locust wood from Tom Brown out in Newfield and constructing 32 raised beds in the Compost Facility on campus. We then started on the fence and sunk and cemented cedar posts every 5 feet along the edge for the fence – but was sure to leave room for the doors. We then stapled the deer fence to the posts and hinged the doors to the fence posts and tried to make them as even as possible. The next step in garden construction included putting down the beds in order, laying cardboard along the whole year, pounding stakes into the corners of the beds to keep them secure and then filling them up with the 50/50 soil and compost mixture from Cayuga Compost. We then put wood chips down on all the paths – as well as cardboard underneath. In the area of the original garden (where there was already soil) we carved out the beds and pathways and left the soil in these beds as well as the garlic that was already doing well.

Summer 2010:

At the beginning of the summer we were still trying to finish up the construction of the garden while putting in the beginning of the plants at the same time. Things definitely got a bit hectic and frantic. We put in many of our young seedlings before the fence was completely finished – but we were already a bit behind on the growing season and wanted to be sure that our plants had enough time to grow. At this time, many of our student volunteers had left the area for the summer and the garden was now primarily maintained by the two paid garden managers – Pat Haggerty and Emma Hileman. We planted all of our seedlings and many seeds (such as lettuce) and also went down to the Ithaca Plant Sale and bought many herbs and pepper plants that were also put in the garden.

The season went fast and pretty soon we had delicious tomatoes, ground cherries, beans and even corn! We tended to each plant as best we could by putting straw mulch around the base of them and helping the tomatoes stand upright with different types of trellises or simple tomato stakes. The tomato stakes seemed to work the best in keeping them up right. The summer was busy and we made the garden look as nice as possible while still doing little construction jobs here and there to make it the best garden it could be for its first season. We had one harvest dinner at the end of the summer before school started. Up until then we had been using the produce for ourselves, giving a small portion to a couple CSA members and donating the rest to Loaves and Fishes downtown.

Fall 2010:

As fall rolled in we had a harvest dinner with delicious produce from our garden to welcome the new club members back. Throughout the fall semester we had various workdays and workshops that included simple things like weeding but other more complicated things such as cover crops, hoop house construction and planting a spring crop of garlic. We built two hoop houses and had fresh lettuce and spinach well into late fall. Unfortunately, after the first snow the hoop houses collapsed – but they can easily be reconstructed next year and made even sturdier. We had our first annual harvest festival where we celebrated the growth of the garden and painted garden flags that can be flown above the fence. We also had several harvest dinners (at least 5) during the semester at both Garden Manager’s houses and all shared in creating and consuming the delicious meals. We also were able to preserve some of the food we grew including some tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and squash. The harvest dinners were a great way to take a break and enjoy the work we put into the garden over the past year. The club met every week and had a workday or workshop almost every weekend during the semester. One club member even carved a sign for the garden trail over his Thanksgiving break. We were also able to hold one event near the end of the semester –a screening of a documentary called The Real Dirt on Farmer John – a movie about a farmer who creates a CSA of well over 200 people in the Midwest. Our last meeting ended with a recap of the semester and a new executive board that will take over garden duties in the spring.