Administration and Finance Focus
 
 

                                                                                                               

New Campus Community Garden Approved

The Facilities and Planning Committee at UH has recently approved the location and building of a new Campus Community Garden.

Though the garden�s location has needed adjustment previously, this new garden comes as a result of considerable planning, funding, and professional consultation, with the goal of a permanent, beautiful, thriving source of edible vegetation.

UH recently partnered with Urban Harvest, a nonprofit organization which specializes in growing gardens in urban areas. In fact, UH is fortunate to have Suzy Fischer as the garden designer, as she is a landscape architect who has been actively involved in designing vegetable gardens for the past 20 years.

The new garden will be built in Cougar Woods, an area off of Wheeler and Cullen on the southwest corner of the campus. The final location, of several researched, was selected based upon its exposure to sunlight and water drainage capabilities.

The garden will consist of fifteen beds, each 5 feet in width to permit reaching to the middle from both sides. Bed wall blocks on the sides will provide places for gardeners to sit or kneel.

Irrigation lines to the bed will permit sufficient watering, and the garden will be maintained primarily by student workers and volunteers, and overseen by members of CLASP (Community Learning Agricultural Sustainability Program).

Urban Harvest will be available for future consultation as the garden is maintained and produces vegetables.

The garden will also contain a feature that will both enhance its beauty and welcome needed, pollinating insects. Sixty-five red and white rose plants will be installed on the outer perimeters of the garden, on behalf of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Funding for the roses was generously provided by the River Oaks Garden Club.

�The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is honored and thrilled to have the 65 Roses Garden planted at the University of Houston in honor of all those special individuals with cystic fibrosis,� said Sissy Boyd, Executive Director, Texas Gulf Coast Chapter, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. �It will be very special for our walkers to stroll through the 65 Roses Garden at our Great Strides Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis walk each May on campus. We are grateful to the River Oaks Garden Club and the University of Houston for making such a lasting tribute happen!�

Aside from using the vegetables in the campus dining recipes, the garden will also serve as an educational tool, as it functions as a learning laboratory for classes such as Plant Physiology.
The new garden is sure to be the most productive and beautiful yet, and the campus is looking forward to beginning crop planting this summer.

�Our club�s Civic Contribution Committee is impressed with the important work of Cystic Fibrosis and the University of Houston�s enhancement and preservation of their green spaces. We are delighted to be associated with this project and are please to contribute to such a meaningful endeavor,� said Kelty Crain, President of River Oaks Garden Club.

For more information about the Campus Community Garden and how to get involved, contact Garden Coordinator, Leah Wolfthal at lwolftha@central.uh.edu.