University Facility Services is closing in on a new space for the Hill Farm Community Garden club to cultivate vegetables again.
The club abandoned garden plots near the Lod Cook Alumni Center last year because of a University construction project to build an atrium and walkway, said Michael Cheatham, a civil engineering graduate student and club member.
Dennis Mitchell, assistant director of Facility Services, said the department is working to decide between two locations and checking to make sure there is water nearby, storage for tools and equipment and facilities to wash hands or use the restroom.
“It could be a reality by next semester,” Mitchell said. “Our mission is to get it cultivated and ready to go. Hopefully, we’ll have a drawing and nailed down which sites make the most sense soon.”
The Hill Farm Community Garden club was the longest running community garden club in Louisiana and allowed students who live in apartments and residence halls to garden and learn to grow vegetables. The club also donates healthy food to the St. Vincent de Paul charity, Cheatham said.
The community garden area functioned as a space for growing plants and horticulture research since the ’20s, according to the LSU AgCenter website.
Mitchell said Facility Services is discussing the community garden space with University Recreation and the College of Agriculture, which have expressed interest in the garden.
“We have some experts on campus that could help give us guidance,” Mitchell said. “They’ve expressed some interest in being involved.”
Mitchell said the goal of the garden is providing a place where students can get together, work on the garden, have an outlet for garden recreation and serve the community through the garden club’s donations.
“Cultivating land can happen anywhere on campus, as long as it’s in a space that makes sense,” Mitchell said. “We’re not going to have a garden in the middle of the Parade Ground, in an area that otherwise would not be wise.”
Cheatham said the club’s new garden area would need to support about 40 members each semester with each garden plot taking up a five-foot-by-four-foot space.
The gardeners in the club knew about the University’s construction plans for some time before they had to move but were notified a short time before they needed to leave the area.
“We got the notice that they were building, and it was like ‘Hey, we’re starting construction next week so be sure to harvest whatever you have,’” Cheatham said.
The community garden club arranged for a new spot last fall, but their plans fell through, Cheatham said. The club met with Facility Services last week.
He said the club attracts people from many different areas of study, and there is demand for the group throughout the University.
“You wouldn’t believe the demand that we have for it. Whenever we go to the student organization fair, we always have so many people,” Cheatham said. “Besides weekly meetings at our site, we didn’t really advertise. I think 40 members is a lot per semester. It was almost unmanageable at times.”
Environmental Engineer student handles plants at the horticulture center Wednesday September 24, 2014.
