Fifteen Year Garden Plan

Bennett Konesni

Jean Hamilton

Amber Trotter

1/31/03

Grounded

A Vision for the Middlebury College Organic Garden

"What shall I learn of beans, or beans of me?" It was with these simple, provocative words that Henry David Thoreau summarized the intellectual thrill of working in the garden behind his small, pond-side cabin. Life for him was not simply about living quietly in the woods: it was about the education that comes from carefully observing the outer world and the inner self. As members of Middlebury College Organic Gardenclub(MCOG), we believe that individuals and institutions have a responsibility to address the world’s social, economic and environmental ills and believe in searching for productive solutions to both regional and global problems. We feel that local agriculture is a fitting medium through which to pursue positive change, as everyone is necessarily affected by food production. By means of an organic garden, MCOG seeks to create a more environmentally aware, socially just, and economically self-sufficient community in Middlebury, bringing the college and town together on neutral ground. People of all ages, religions, economic statuses and lifestyles will be united in this venture. The site we have selected is physically as well as metaphorically neutral, as it is off-campus but on college-owned land.

We concur with Wendell Berry’s contention that people need to feel a sense of belonging to a particular place and a connection to a particular set of people in order to be whole; in other words, that community is essential to human health and happiness. Although people, places and problems throughout the world are more interconnected than ever before, this sense of global solidarity in no way diminishes the importance of local unity. Indeed, small communities have grown more important, as a healthy “global community” will only emerge through a system of vibrant local communities. A community garden seems a logical and effective tool for fostering community strength and unity as well as enhancing peoples’ connection to the land upon which they live. Such a garden will also provide an opportunity for wholesome physical activity and produce delicious nutritious food.

We have been given permission to use a beautiful three-acre parcel directly behind Bicentennial Hall, officially known as the Middlebury College Organic Garden and affectionately referred to as Kestrel Knoll. The garden will be used to close the "food loop" at the College. Students would use the garden, partially fertilized by College produced compost to grow some of the food for Midd Dining. This past fall, we planted winter rye on a ¼ of an acre section of the plot; this spring we will plant a variety of vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers in that same section. While planting a larger garden is tempting, we have chosen to cultivate only ¼ of an acre this first growing season because we are confident we can farm a plot this size efficiently and effectively. Our goals for MCOG over the next 15 years range from selling food to Middlebury Dining to on-site research projects to harvest parties open to the entire community. We hope the garden will bring both concrete benefits and those of a less tangible nature to Middlebury. We will strive to strike a balance between setting small specific goals and daring to dream big.

As our first project, we are creating a program known as Commons Supported Agriculture. Negotiations are still underway, but we envision each of the commons paying MCOG $500 annually, in exchange for fresh, organic garden produce during the months of September, October and November. This produce will be used in their weekly dinners, typically attended by 15-30 people, and in special commons events. We hope the commons will schedule volunteer sessions in the garden, linking these two dynamic groups and fostering individual friendships among members.

Next year, we hope to sell produce to Middlebury Dining. Serving food grown on Middlebury College-owned land in the dining halls will encourage students to think about issues associated with the sustainability of food production and its transport and hopefully spark interest in volunteering in the garden. The food we sell will replace food bought from outside, rather than inside, the Middlebury area; our small outputs will prevent us from competing with local farmers. Charlie Sargent, the Middining Purchasing Agent, has pledged his support of the venture and agreed to purchase certain crops in whatever the quantities the garden can produce them. Middining has also expressed interest in using our produce at a variety of special events, such as the Fall Festival, both parents’ weekends, homecoming, and a summer event at the Breadloaf campus. We hope to gradually increase the amount of food we are able to provide our dining halls, ultimately causing a significant reduction in the amount of food being imported from outside our bioregion. We are also investigating other marketing options on campus.

Because we seek to enhance, rather than detract from, the local landscape, aesthetics are of great importance to us as we contemplate construction projects. Through aesthetic appeal, MCOG will attract artists, writers, philosophers and people who simply want to bask in the beauty and abundance of sustainable farming. We will have several benches and a small ritual circle for them to enjoy. Our greenhouse and tool shed will be decorated with colorful murals, garlic braids, and poetry. Greenhouse frames have kindly been donated and we are currently researching the best greenhouse model for us to use. We have $2,300 to build a 12 X 12 ft. tool shed, in addition to donated windows and wood. The shed will include a small kitchen space with counters, sinks, etc., making it possible for us to do things like wash lettuce before selling it and will enabling MCOG and other organizations to prepare meals together after gardening. A cold cellar would allow us to store produce through the winter. In addition, we will eventually can, pickle, and dry our own produce, giving gifts of jams, salsas, garlic braids and dried flowers.

MCOG’s role as an educational tool is of the utmost importance. It will serve as a valuable opportunity for scientific research by classes, professors, community organizations and private citizens. It will provide professors with a fantastic resource: whether the subject be our agricultural heritage here in Vermont, environmental psychology, economics, the arts, plant biology, or environmental literature, almost every discipline could use MCOG as a way to enhance their curriculum and engage students in learning. Language classes could cultivate ethnic heirloom crops, environmental literature courses could travel to the garden for inspiration, organic chemistry classes could distill soy bean oil to be used as fuel. The possibilities are truly endless.

We want MCOG to serve as a model for of sustainable agriculture, with fruit and nut trees, beehives, chickens, ducks, and turkeys, all working together to enhance overall productivity. Pear trees could provide shade for plants that require it, as well as for weary gardeners. Hickory nuts and chestnuts would be perfect for consumption during cold Vermont winters and would also make great gifts. Animals would be fed largely using garden waste and would provide nutrients for our crops; bees would pollinate them. Elementary and secondary school classes will be able to take field trips to the site, learning its history and significance. High school students will have the opportunity to apprentice at the garden and a certain number of Middlebury students will gain valuable real-life experience as paid summer laborers, leaning both agricultural skills and experience managing a small non-profit organization.

Uniting people in the joy, beauty and fun of agriculture is a crucial aspect of our vision. Gardening and farming are stimulating and gratifying enterprises and food production is an easy way for people with different backgrounds and viewpoints to relate to one another. One of the most wonderful aspects of agriculture is that, despite its amazing complexity, it is a medium in which everyone can participate. Assisted by members of MCOG, local organizations such as church groups, school classes and Girl Scout clubs will be able to schedule time in the garden together, followed, perhaps, by preparing a delicious meal with garden produce. These sessions will connect individuals both to each other and to the earth and will raise awareness surrounding seasonality and sustainability. We will publish a regular newsletter with garden updates, recipes, poetry, upcoming events and more. We will host guest speakers, poetry readings, workshops, harvest festivals, and equinox celebrations, open to the entire community. As our first workshop/speaker, we plan to bring David Jacke, an expert on edible forest gardening, here this spring. He will help us draw up plans for our own small forest garden. Ultimately, we would like to be producing enough to be able to donate local, nutritious food to charitable organizations.

We feel it is important to consider not only the human, but the entire community of Middlebury. As Wendell Berry wrote: “If we speak of a healthy community, we cannot be speaking of a community that is merely human... A healthy community is a form that includes all the local things that are connected by the larger, ultimately mysterious form of the Creation”. We will strive to enrich the soil, flora and fauna in the garden area and to help people realize that they are members of a complex and diverse community, for which it is in our own self-interest to care.

In a very real sense, we who garden will be performing a community service, endeavoring to improve and strengthen our adopted hometown. In addition to growing food, we hope to create a garden that will allow us allto examine a bit more of our surroundings, a bit more of each other, a bit more of ourselves. It has become apparent in writing this proposal that we stir thesoil not just to produce the raw fuels of life; we garden to care for our community, to cultivate friendships, and to grow as human beings. By examining the world withinand without, we will explore exactly what it means to live happily and well and become fully human. For us, gardening is about growing great ideas, great people and great community.