As spring fights its way through unseasonable cold, the Organic Gardening and Sustainable Building Clubs have turned their energy to making plans for an acre of land the University gave them last fall. Possible plans for the acre, at the corner of Long Lane Drive and Wadsworth Street, include an outdoor classroom, shed and greenhouse, and energy-efficient building renovation.
“We are looking to create an organic farm that can serve as an example of sustainable agriculture,” said Ari Bain ’05. “With the incorporation of alternative buildings, we are looking to create a focal point on campus for people who are interested in studying the design of sustainable living systems.”
Bain, along with Meredith Cowart ’05, recently received WSA approval for a Sustainable Building Club with a focus on Long Lane. The group plans to finish the outdoor classroom as early as this spring, but other projects, including the greenhouse and indoor shed and classroom, may require a longer timeline, according to Bain.
As part of the Long Lane master plan, Cowart is leading a building renovation effort. The group hopes to turn part “mini MoCon,” a building on the acre, into classroom space for the farm and retrofit its kitchen with energy-efficient appliances.
Cowart hopes to extend the renovation project to senior wood-frame houses. They will begin by surveying owners in the next two weeks about their perceived energy efficiency.
“We’ll use the survey to target four or five houses that need renovation,” Cowart said. “Then we hope to do energy audits and draw up plans with the Administration to improve the energy efficiency of those houses in an environmentally responsible way.”
Other future goals include selling the farm’s products to WeShop and the Vegan Café, as well as planting fruit trees. They hope to find donors to fund the trees in the name of others, according to Bain.
Efforts to secure land on Long Lane began last spring, when several students submitted a proposal to Peter Patton for four to five acres to start a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, which would be sustained through sale of its produce. Mary Thomas ’04, part of the group who made the proposal, got the idea from a CSA farm at Vassar College. No definite plans were made regarding the land.
“It wasn’t as though we made a demand and it wasn’t met,” Thomas said. “It was as though there was a discussion. With people graduating, the discussion didn’t continue until this year.”
Last fall, Thomas returned to speak with Marcia Bromberg, who reserved an acre for the group, which has now submitted a budget to Bromberg to determine whether they can seek funding through avenues provided by the University.
“The garden club members have identified a set of needs, both one-time and ongoing, that are required to maintain a successful garden,” Bromberg said. “I am helping to review the club’s budget and will help set up the mechanism for managing and accounting for funds with the University’s accounting system.”
Other plans include a campus-wide composting system that aims to reduce trash generated on campus and improve the garden’s soil. Compost buckets set up all over campus will be emptied into bins that a truck can carry to the Long Lane property.
“It’s a very exciting venture,” said Carl Lowenberg ’06, head of the group’s compost committee. “Just like bottle and can recycling, but with banana peels, half-eaten sandwiches, and shredded newspapers. It’s something we never could have been able to do without the acre of land.”
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