At the edge of a grassy field nestled deep in the Sunset Canyon
Recreation Center lies a plot of land currently inhabited by little
more than sturdy trees and their fallen counterparts.
It may seem inconsequential now, but to fourth-year anthropology
student Megan Carney, it is teeming with possibilities.
Construction could begin as early as next week on the first
garden in the University Gardening Project, an organic gardening
program still in its early stages at UCLA. The first crop could be
ready for harvest by late summer.
Carney, third-year cognitive science and Spanish student Elaine
Long, third-year Design | Media Arts and economics student Henry
Debey, third-year English and Italian student Andy Ramsay and
fourth-year geography student Christopher Crump started the project
after they discovered they had similar ideas.
“We basically had the same vision in mind: an organic
garden (and) an opportunity for students to grow their own
food,” said Carney, the project’s student director.
“Word passed around, and (the project) just organically
developed.”
Their diverse backgrounds allowed them to come up with a wide
range of ideas for the project, Debey said.
“Everyone … just has a different approach to the
solution,” he said. “All our skills are morphing into
one big idea.”
Though UCLA hosts other gardens on and off campus, the
University Gardening Project marks the university’s first
student-led gardening program.
The project acquired a 10-by-50-foot area near the Challenge
Course after turning in a proposal and months of working with UCLA
Recreation searching for garden space.
The spot was ideal because it would require the least alteration
from its current state and because it is handicap-accessible and
road-accessible, Carney said.
“(It’s) just the beginning of a program we want to
see implemented throughout campus,” she said. “We can
create a green reputation for ourselves.”
The project aims to educate students about the importance of
eating and growing organic foods, and of disposing of waste
responsibly. They will recycle compost from the garden and use it
to fertilize the soil, Carney said.
“The garden’s … going to be a model of
permaculture, (with) no waste,” she said.
The project promotes sustainable food practices, or
“anything that is contrary to an industrial food
system,” Carney said.
She said the garden will not overuse the soil, pollute the
atmosphere, or make use of chemicals or pesticides.
It will instead use flowers as natural deterrents.
The flora would add to the biodiversity of the garden, where
students can grow vegetables, herbs, berries and other edible
goods, Carney said.
“We want it to be aesthetically pleasing,” she
said.
The garden will be on a raised bed 30-40 inches above the
ground, surrounded by a chicken wire or bamboo fence, Debey
said.
Carney said she wanted the garden to be a “space for
people to really build community with one another” in the
midst of an urban setting.
“Growing a garden in an urban setting is feasible,”
she said. “It’s really fulfilling to those that engage
in it.”
Debey stressed the simplicity of organic gardening, as opposed
to industrial farming, which Crump said requires unnecessary energy
consumption.
“I think starting this garden is reverting back to a
simpler lifestyle, something society is going to have to
realize,” Debey said. “It’s a practice I think
people are going to have to adopt in the near future.”
The University Gardening Project team hopes to expand the
program beyond the boundaries of the center’s small space,
Carney said.
They are researching the possibility of growing gardens on
campus rooftops and “guerilla gardening,” which is
planting anywhere on campus, Carney said.
The group is planning to host many events to encourage students
to participate in the project because several of the founding
members plan to graduate this year. The first event will be an
off-campus barbecue on March 2.
“I want to ensure that there’s a trained staff that
will carry on the torch,” Carney said.
The project has attracted the attention of students and faculty,
including Professor Stephanie Pincetl of the UCLA Institute of the
Environment, Carney said.
Interested students can also take courses on sustainable living,
and the project will offer a “crash course in organic
gardening,” Carney said.
Debey said the project aims to bring people back to nature.
“(We) asked ourselves, “˜What’s our vision for
this garden?'” he said. “All for the better, all
for the greater good of the UCLA community.”