If you’re looking for organic eats on campus, you’ll soon be able to find them, but they’re going to take some work.
Environmental student club Mission Green is starting a project that the FAU community can get involved in. MG volunteers and FAU’s Phi Delta Theta are helping build a garden students can sign up for from Nov. 4 – 10.
The garden will be located by the greenhouse, which is next to the T-building and behind PBSC, according to MG President Kelsey Crane. Students will get to keep what they plant.
The club has yet to set a date to begin planting. “We can’t set a date until we have supplies in hand, so that’s our next step,” said Crane, adding that Student Government is funding the project $2,800 project. MG is currently in the process of getting 4’x8’ cedar wood planks and soil mix from a local farm. PDT and MG volunteers will help build the garden beds.
“People are free to bring their own seeds and plants,” says Crane. “I have several organic seeds that were given to Mission Green, but they come in packs of 700 so I’m donating them to the garden eventually.”
For those who don’t have a clue about gardening, MG will have backyard farmer workshops and teach people the organic gardening basics according to Crane. “There will be anything really that people are interested in. I’d like to see people engage in the garden.”
MG Secretary Sabrina Koramblyum believes this project will be good for the environment and be a learning experience for everyone, including students specifically interested in agriculture. “It’s about eating local, growing your own food and part of it is helping students learn about agriculture.”
FAU students, staff and faculty can get involved. There will be ten beds that people can sign up for through MyFAU. Crane recommends about five people per bed because of each bed’s size and in order to share gardening responsibilities.
“I’m hoping that an entire group doesn’t drop out. That’s why we have group sign ups. If they do drop out, there will still be members to take care of that bed.”
If a group abandons their bed, there are policies written by the Weppner Center and FAU facilities to handle that. That group won’t be allowed to have a bed the following semester, according to Crane.
Koramblyum hopes that participants will appreciate the effort that goes into growing food. “We hope that they come to appreciate how difficult it can be. Some plants are easier to grow than others, and in general in this country, we don’t appreciate all the resources we have and take it for granted.”
Crane adds, “It’s really cool putting a seed in the ground and watching it grow, pulling out vegetables, and going home and making your own food with them and seeing where these things you see in the grocery store come from.”.
“I just want a good community project that the FAU community can get involved in. It’s a good FAU community building project.”
If you don’t want to wait until Nov. 4 to sign up, garden applications and guidelines are available on FAU’s website.
