Students at a community garden on Centennial Campus were enthusiastic on Super Bowl Sunday – and for more than just football.
Planted by the group Students for Organic, United Living, the SOUL Garden is a grant-funded project near Lake Raleigh open to the University community. Last Sunday was the first work day of the semester.
Lauren Morris, a senior in biological sciences, said she founded the garden a year ago when she wanted to learn more about community gardens.
“I searched online and I was like, ‘Hey, a community garden. Why doesn’t N.C. State have one?'” Morris said.
Things began to take shape for SOUL when they won a $1,000 grant at the Think Outside the Brick competition, where students competed for funding to start sustainable projects. They then approached the N.C. State Board of Trustees to get space allotted for a community garden on campus. The board obliged with a plot of land near the dam on Lake Raleigh.
As word got around campus, the garden generated a lot of interest from students and professors who wanted to chip in. Two 12 feet by 24 feet beds were built during the summer.
The students also formalized the SOUL Garden as a student group. The summer produce included a good quantity of patty pan squash, jalapenos, radishes and turnips.
“We donated most of the harvest to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle,” Morris said. The Food Shuttle is a North Carolina-based organization that specializes in collecting perishable foods and donating it to the needy.
After the garden’s success last fall, the group is optimistic for the spring.
“I think the garden’s a real good opportunity for students from all over N.C. State to come together and work on something that belongs to the community,” Katie McKnight, a founder of SOUL and a junior in environmental technology, said. “It teaches people where their food is coming from.”
As an effort to promote agricultural sustainability, one of the two elevated beds has been divided into smaller plots that are available for rent.
“At first we thought we would have a hard time advertising and letting people know about [the plots available for rent], but we have almost already sold off all 15 plots, and they haven’t yet been available for a week,” Morris said.
People who rent out the plots are provided with water and tools for their gardens and have complete freedom in growing their own organic produce. The founders hope the money they receive from renting out plots, along with the grants from the Student Government, will make the entire model of the community garden self-sustainable.
The Agricultural Leadership class of the Agricultural College provides the expertise for the combinations of crops that should be grown.
“[The Agricultural Leadership class] created a grower’s manual for us, so that we know what to plant and at what time, which is really helpful,” Morris said.
The group has three major projects lined up for the near future: a fence, a shed and a pump.
Work is underway to build a bamboo fence around the garden beds, with priority being given to the bed available for rent.
“Deer are a real problem around here, and last time we ground up some jalapenos and used it as sprays over the pumpkins to keep the deer away. A fence will provide the garden the necessary protection,” Morris said.
The group is building a tool shed to store an assortment of garden tools, some of which have been donated by professors and students.
“I want to be a part of the SOUL Garden’s mission and help out with the infrastructure, instead of just [the] garden,” Ariel Fugate, an interdisciplinary studies senior, said.
Last fall the group installed a gasoline-powered pump to get water from the lake to the garden. A more environmentally-friendly option, a bicycle-powered pump, is planned to replace the current pump. According to Morris, SOUL is trying to get a mechanical engineer to work on the pump.
Plans are also in place to integrate the garden with courses like STS 323 World Population and Food Prospects to get more students involved.
“Help is always welcome,” Morris said. “People can connect with us on Facebook. We have multiple projects going on. Right now we have a core leadership of four members, and thirty or so volunteers. I would like more people to know that the garden exists on campus and have it grow, and [would like to get] more people involved to a greater extent, where they feel that they are a part of something.”