Community Organic Garden

The Saint Michael's College Community Organic Garden began in the summer of 2008 with a tremendous amount of help from Physical Plant setting up the site, and support from the Environmental Council, Green Up and the Student Association.  The first growing season proved to be a wonderful learning experience of what works best and what needs to be improved upon. 

New Direction for the Garden in 2009
As any gardener knows, nurturing your soil is one of the most important steps to having a spectacular garden, and it takes a good 5 to 10 years to really do so.  With this in mind, rather than dividing the garden into numerous individual plots as last summer, the garden has been re-mapped with different specific "plots" to better supply the soil with consistent nutrients rather than creating a patchwork of nutrients.  This will also help with crop-rotation in each year to come!

Summer 2009 Happenings
In early May, I (Heather) formed the Garden Advisory Committee (Greg Delanty, Reza Ramazani, Aaron Metcalf, Alex Biron, Dan Sandberg, Rich Mitchell, Rick Battistoni, Frank Huseman, Heidi Lynch, and Heather Ellis) and two local community members (Eric Van Vlandren from Intervale Compost and Charlie Krumholz who has helped with numerous community gardens in the area).  Since our initial brainstorming session about the garden, we had an amazing volunteer day physically mapping ou the garden plots/walkways and then began the planting!

Check out pictures from the garden (updated regularly): SMC Organic Garden Photo Album

The Amazing Gardeners
I am so incredibly lucky to have two amazing gardeners for the summer: Heidi Lynch '10, who has worked on an organic farm the past few summers in Rutland, VT; and Frank Huseman '11, who brings his gardening experience from gardening in Colorado.  Both are very hard-working, insightful and passionate gardeners.

THANK YOU
The garden would not have happened if it had not been for the tremendous support from everyone below:

  • Valerie and Ava Banschbach
  • Ethan and Jesse Bodin
  • Nancy Brock
  • Erin Collins and MOVE's Outdoor Volunteer Efforts
  • Miranda Croteau
  • Alan Dickson and the Grounds Department
  • The Garden Advisory Committee
  • Bill Grover
  • Charlie Krumholtz
  • Richard Kujawa
  • Declan McCabe
  • Mike New
  • Alan Sutton and the HVAC Department
  • Karen Talentino
  • Eric Van Vlandren

Other Exciting News
We have bi-weekly farm stands on campus to share our veggies, flowers and herbs with the rest of the community.  Also, a Garden blog has been set up and will be updated weekly with the latest garden news.  Please check it out at: SMC Organic Garden Blog

If you have any questions about the garden (or want a tour and don't know how to find it), please feel free to contact me, Heather Ellis (Sustainability Coordinator) at hellis@smcvt.edu or 654.2733.


Hope to see you down at the Garden soon!


Local Garden/Agriculture Links of Interest:
Friends of Burlington Gardens - Vermont Community Garden Network
Intervale Center
Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
Vermont Master Gardener Program
Shelburne Farms




   


Did you know?

Community gardens (between 25 and 400 square feet) reduce the carbon footprint by 90 lbs of carbon dioxide a year. 

Lawn and garden chemicals add 730 lbs to one's carbon footprint year.  Decide to grow your lawn/garden without these chemicals, there are a lot of eco-friendly solutions for a healthy, vibrant lawn.

Grow your own vegetables and reduce your carbon footprint by 40 lbs a year!

Become a locavore (eat locally produced/grown food).  By eating localy you're not just getting food of a higher quality, you're also supporting your local farmers and producers.  While at the same time the fuel costs and emissions of transportation are virtually cut out, which can add up to a total carbon savings of 5,000 lbs a year, just by having local food once a week!

 

(from "The Environmental Equation," by Alex Shimo-Barry, 2008)