The University held a dedication and
planting of the Cougar Campus Garden
on Thursday, October 1, 2009. Even
though the day was hot, humid and it
had rained just minutes before the
planting commenced, students, staff
and faculty were not deterred from
coming out to show their support.
They were happily planting the
seedlings despite the hot weather
conditions. Over 50 members of our
campus community participated in the
planting, including Professors Barry
Lefer and Donna Pattison. One of the
student groups that were most
prominent were the MVP�s
(Metropolitan Volunteer Program)
headed by Michael Harding, the
Director of the group.
Plant Operations has been working
diligently in prepping the land and
soil in anticipation of the garden
this past month. Alex Alexander,
Director of Custodial
Services/Grounds stated, �There is
currently 1,000sf of garden, with
plans to expand in the future� there
is also a garden bed devoted to
herbs as well as a butterfly garden
complete with an irrigation system.�
UH�s Executive Chef, Brent Gorman
said, �We are now planting tomatoes,
different varieties of peppers,
cilantro and will plant onions later
on.� �These are the main ingredients
which will be used to make Shasta�s
Blazin� Salsa, so it�s really going
to be homegrown,� said Nate Jackson,
Vice President of Membership
Development with Aramark.
The main purpose of the Campus
Garden is to be a learning, living
laboratory. It will showcase native
plants and vegetables as well. This
garden will be vital in teaching the
campus of where our food supply
originates, how plants grow and
change with each season and to
foster environmental stewardship.
The garden will feature different
plants during the different seasons.
As it starts to get cooler, Plant
Operations staff will be preparing
the beds with different plants that
do well in a colder climate.
