The greenest of gardens

Bushes of juicy red raspberries, rows of spinach and cucumber and thin Asian pear trees bloom in the community garden of Riverdale minutes from the campus, where student volunteers and residents practice sustainable agriculture side-by-side.

Students helped build the Master Peace Community Farm from the ground up during a first-of-its-kind local alternative spring break program in 2007. Now, a handful of student volunteers work at the farm and sell produce at the Riverdale Farmer's Market, but organizers say that more involvement is needed.

"I see us as being a kind of catalyst for collaboration across the university and community, as we try to figure out how to sustain our lives together," said Sonia Keiner Flynn, a project manager for university-assisted community schools with Engaged University, which sponsors the garden. "If we don't start moving back to the local community and local-growing ... it means serious issues if [we don't] already."

The garden has 22 plots for local youth section, where nearby middle-schoolers dig, plant and take home fresh fruits and vegetables as part of an after-school program. Located at the Center for Educational Partnership on Sheridan Street, the garden is funded by a series of grants, including money from the county for gang prevention programming. Engaged University, an extension of the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources that seeks to connect the campus to the surrounding areas, is responsible for managing the garden.

The garden is part of a country-wide urban farming movement, Engaged University's community garden educator Vinnie Bevivino said. Industrial farms harm the environment by using pesticides, which can pollute local water supplies. Plus, the energy cost of shipping the produce is huge, Keiner Flynn said.

The community farm, on the other hand, makes its own compost, features greenhouses heated by the sun for winter crops and just got a new rain cistern to collect run-off water from the roof. The produce is of higher quality, and workers take home what they've grown. Food and nutrition play a big part in outreach, especially in the winter, when the focus turns from planting to cooking the vegetables, Bevivino said.

Community Roots has shuttled students to the garden for the past two Saturdays, after perceiving an interest in sustainability, "recognizing the momentum and trying to get on board," said co-president Steve Jackson, a senior American studies major. Around 20 people showed up the first week, but it dwindled to only a handful this past week. If interest stays low, it might not turn into a regular event, Jackson said.

"I'll definitely be coming back," he said. "I'm amazed by the potential for urban farming. I mean, this used to be a broken-down parking lot."

Jackson said he didn't know much about sustainable agriculture practices until he started working at the garden, where he learned and helped with practices such as planting cover crops in the late summer to fertilize the ground before it is replanted with produce.

"It's symbolic of doing well for the Earth and being mindful of what it needs from you, not just what you need from it," he said. "Sometimes it seems like people think that food comes from the supermarket."

Tory DeAngelis, a junior natural resource management major works at the farm on Thursdays and Saturdays for credit.

"I wasn't looking for an internship when I applied; I just love to work outside," she said. "It's rewarding to eat the food."

Engaged University hopes to get the word out through the Community Roots e-mail listserv and is hosting a harvest festival on Oct. 18.

"Copious amounts of students are volunteering," Bevivino said. "I'd like to see more classes, more professors out here. It would be useful to studies in horticulture, environmental science, soil science - all kinds of majors."

sticedbk@gmail.com