Hey Everyone,
Just a quick note for those of you who are planning on attending the Garden Party. Due to the expected rainfall tomorrow, we have rescheduled the Party to Sunday from 11 am to 2 pm. It could now be considered a combined Garden and Pre-World Cup Final party…
Hope to see you there!
Best,
Andrew
Friends,
Whether you are a locavore or not, you have to admit that food tastes better in the summer. Farm-fresh tomatoes pack an acidic punch. Gigantic white peaches send juice running down your chin. And, local butter-and-sugar corn kernels seem to melt on the tongue. The food is fresh, abundant, and celebrated.
This summer in the garden, however, we are discovering that food grown in one’s backyard tastes even better. Our SWEET PEAS had such crunch that we could hardly keep ourselves from snacking as we harvested. The RADISHES were so spicy, we seemed capable of eating just one or two at a time. Even the CAULIFLOWER, our weakest performing crop, had a smooth, buttery texture not found in the supermarket.
What’s so exciting about this discovery is that the garden is really starting to perform now that the “dog days” of July have arrived. Though all of us living at Haverford are suffering in the 90-100 degree weather, which seems to be intensified by the stagnant air flow in our apartments, we are eating quite well. Just yesterday, a friend and I harvested this beautiful cornucopia of veggies. As you can see, the BEETS, ONIONS, and CUCUMBERS are still producing well. More importantly, the GREEN BEANS and POTATOES are in! Indeed, these backyard veggies are unlike any I have ever had…
More to come on the Garden Party this weekend. I hope everyone else is managing to stay cool.
Best,
Andrew
Friends,
As I mentioned in my quick post yesterday, the members of the Haverford Garden Initiative met last night to do some garden advertising, which has been one of our most difficult and important tasks. Over the past few months, one of our major challenges has been getting the word out about the garden. You would think that a garden on a suburban campus would jump out at people, but the contrary is the case. Though we have a flourishing plot, quite a few people still seem to be in the dark about its origin and purpose.
Like most of our technologically savvy peers, our first step in the advertising campaign was to post some information on Haverford’s GO! Boards, an online discussion forum for Haverford Students. From there, we met with John Francone, Haverford’s Director of Dining Services, to plan a huge barbecue for all the kids on campus—if you are around, mark down next Saturday, the 10th at 2pm on your calendar: Garden Party! But, since both of those advertising attempts take time and reach only the student population, we decided to advertise the simple way: painting a sign.
With a pile of wood scraps from Facilities and some cheap paint from Mapes (the local hardware store), a group of us set about creating the signs that will bring the garden message to everyone who walks by. Some of us jumped off to a fast start, making a sign with
the HGI hyperlink that looks slightly rustic to say the least. Others of us (the artistically talented few) took our time and painted a gorgeous sign stating “Haverford Student Garden – A Product of the Haverford Garden Initiative.” In the end, both signs looked excellent when hammered into the ground next to our proud plants.
Yet, what struck me the most about the sign painting experience was not the advertising progress we made. Rather, it was the ease with which the HGI students worked together to accomplish a task. Unlike the highly individualized work we do in school, the garden has taught us to function well as a team, planting seedlings, harvesting produce, and even painting signs. In that sense, the garden truly seems to be fulfilling its role as the space where people can think creatively and act decisively about food and its importance. The garden has become as much about the people involved as it is about the food. At least to me, these friendships (in addition to the food) make the garden seem like a very good thing.
Keep your eyes peeled for more to come on the Garden Party next week. Happy Fourth of July to you all.
Best,
Andrew
Friends,
Though it has been a long time since the last post, the garden has been a busy place. While I was gone on vacation, several other students associated with the Garden Initiative took care of the garden. Many kudos to them for their excellent work!
According to their updates, the Philadelphia area suffered a stint of extreme heat and humidity over the past few days, leaving me fearful for the plants. Yet, instead of wilting everything in the garden, the heat has seemed to catalyze the plant growth.
As I toured through the garden late last night, I was shocked to see how much the plants have grown in the last ten days. The tomato plants – which once formed neat little rows we could walk through – have become a dense jungle of leafy greens, stalks, and rotund fruit. The basil, the herb we were sure would fail, has grown so tall and thick even a huge pot of pesto could not contain their leaves. Even the green bean plants have started sending forth their succulent and crispy pods. Only the tender frisée lettuce seedlings suffered in the heat and wilted.
Otherwise, I am excited to report that tonight holds our much awaited sign painting event. A group of us will gather in the garden to paint a series of signs meant to make the garden an educational space. My hope is that they provide a colorful and enlightening way for people to see what we are growing. More news on that later this week…
Best,
Andrew
Friends,
Much like the Four Strangers post I wrote a little while ago, I am delighted to report that we have had many visitors to the garden over the last week. It truly seems that the garden is beginning to represent a place where people can come to learn about good food grown well.
Last Friday, I was lucky to be joined in the garden by a few members of the Haverford Garden Initiative (HGI). Though it is certainly not the most pleasant of tasks, we engaged in a thorough weeding of the entire plot and removed the deer fencing that once surrounded the original garden. With the help of a collinear hoe (a.k.a. weeds’ bane), we assaulted weedy strongholds that once cowered behind the stalwart ramparts of the fence. At the end of the day, the garden looked decidedly refreshed and neat.
On Sunday, the normal gardeners received the help of a group on non-HGI-affiliated students in the planting of a new set of seedlings. Since we had already exhausted the seedlings we raised in the campus greenhouse, I had made a trip to a local garden store to pick up a set of lettuces and some herbs. Back on campus, five other students and I descended on the garden to plant our new friends, to harvest a few peas, and to unexpectedly find several huge cucumbers
hiding beneath the leaves of our once gnarly cuke plants.
All in all, I am very happy with how the garden looks and how the project is progressing. That said, without the help and sincere interest of my fellow students, this adventure could never have happened.
Last but not least, I wanted to mention that I will be going on vacation later this week and will not be back until late next week. In lieu of blog posts, I am going to embed an extensive photo gallery below. I invite you to see our garden’s progress firsthand. Otherwise, you might want to take a look at the wiki we have created for the garden on wikidot.com. It is a work in progress, but we hope it will one day serve as the teaching tool that prepares novice gardeners for their time in the Haverford Garden.
More news on the proposal writing to come later next week. Thank you all for your continued interest.
Best,
Andrew
Friends,
Since I wrote such a wordy post the other day, I thought it would be a good idea to send a few pictures your way. I took some photos the other night at dusk, making the photo quality less-than-stellar. That said, the new pictures should give you an idea of how much the garden has grown in the last two weeks. It really feels like every time I see the tomato plants, they have shot up another few inches.
Old Tomatoes
New Tomatoes
Onion Bulbs
Cucumber
Last but not least, I wanted to include a few pictures of the peas and lettuces that we have been harvesting over the last few weeks. We found that the pea pods were a bit too tough to eat, but the peas within were nutty and crisp. The lettuces, quite simply, were the best I have ever eaten.
Romaine Lettuce
Peas
Mixed Greens
I wish you all a pleasant weekend.
Best,
Andrew
Friends,
Once again, it has been a few days since the last post. I hope you are all well and enjoying this glorious summer weather. Here at Haverford, it is a balmy summer day with a crisp chill in the air and a sky dappled with the whitest of clouds.
Throughout this blog, I have made many references to the research portion of my project but have not taken the time to fully explain what exactly I am doing. Today, I think, would be a good time to catch you up.
To the greatest extent, the research portion of my internship is about dialogue. Everyone at Haverford seems interested in creating an 
agricultural space on campus, from the lowliest of students to the College President himself. What no one knows, however, is the form the farm/garden/patch/orchard will take. In that sense, I say my project is about dialogue because my task is to meet with these various factions and to distill their disparate ideas into one organizational structure.
So, for the past few months, meeting with people is exactly what I have done. Way back in March, I spoke with the College President, Steve Emerson, to hear what he expects from a formal proposal. Later in April, the head of the College’s Facilities Management joined us in a Committee on Environmental Responsibility meeting and approved the idea of moving the garden to another space on campus. And, more recently, I have met with a slew of professors from all disciplines (Chemistry, English, Political Science, etc.), College Staff, and students involved with the Haverford Garden Initiative.
As a result of all of those discussions, we have tentatively agreed on a hierarchical organizational structure in which people have varying levels of responsibility (and are held accountable for those roles). Claudia Kent, the Manager of Grounds, will serve informally as an advisor – that is, as someone who can recommend directions and/or ideas for the garden. From there, two students will be paid garden interns and will be directly responsible for both maintaining the garden and bringing volunteers to help. Last but not least, the members of HGI will break into small garden teams that work as units in the garden.
Potentially most exciting of all, however, were the ideas that came out of yesterday’s meeting with two staff members at the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship. After explaining to them the progress I had made, I suggested that we try to design a perennial internship for a student to work in the garden. Their response was overwhelmingly positive. If it succeeded, it would mean turning something like my current project into a designated program to which students apply each year.
Overall, I am quite happy with how the research portion has proceeded and feel lucky to have met with so many interesting (and interested) people on campus. If you would like to hear more details about the proposal, chime in with questions. Otherwise, I promise more garden pictures and updates are on their way.
Best,
Andrew
Hey Everyone,
It has been a few days since I last posted so I thought I would give you an update of what’s going on at Haverford. Life is pretty hectic this week. Between discussions with faculty members about the proposal and a meeting with the Director of Dining Services to discuss our planned Garden Party (more to come), I have scarcely had a moment to breathe.
That said, yesterday ended up being one of the most delightful days yet this summer. Just as I finished working and was experiencing the post-work drain that plagues all of us Americans, I geared up for another meeting. This one, however, was special because a student from another school had reached out to me. Essentially, a group of students at UPenn just recently received a HUGE, $20,000 grant to grow a campus garden. To sustain the investment, a student associated with the project is making visits to other schools with such gardens to develop a long-term plan. Sound familiar? Needless to say, our discussion was very fruitful.
Since Penn seems to be one step ahead in the process – they have written the proposal and received funding – , my peer’s insights about the organization of their farm were incredibly helpful. She spoke of an interdisciplinary steering board, complete with faculty, undergrads, staff members, and graduate students, that allows the garden to maintain strong ties to the school, its curriculum, and its student body. Without a doubt, some of her ideas will go into our proposal.
Yet, perhaps most exciting of all was what happened after the meeting ended. As the sun was starting to set and the temperature fell to a chillingly refreshing 70 degrees, I visited the garden to pull some weeds. A few minutes later, three other students not associated with HGI swung by and leant a helping hand. Together, we weeded, harvested pea pods, picked lettuce leaves, and scrounged for the last of the spinach. As the sun finally set, we divided up our goods and set off to prepare the crisp produce we had just picked.
Thinking back over the experience, I believe the moment represents the realization of the garden’s purpose: to educate about food and to build community. Four students previously unknown to each other came together over one of the simplest human activities, the gathering and eating of food. Yet, the moment transcends the very physical produce we reaped. As they walked off with a newfound interest in gardening, a sense of relaxation, and some excitement about fresh food, I could not help but marvel at the idea of four strangers bonding over a garden and building a tighter-knit community. What a beautifully picturesque and idyllic idea…come to life.
Best,
Andrew
Hello Readers,
As I was looking back over my last post a few days ago, I realized that the title, “The Gardening Part of Generative Gardening,” was highly deceptive. In fact, the post doesn’t really talk about gardening at all and focuses, rather, on the nature of the overall project.
To ameliorate that dearth of information, I am now going to talk about the garden itself. This past semester, I started a student group called “The Haverford Garden Initiative” with two other CPGC interns, Peter Block and Fay Strongin. With them, several other students, and the help of Claudia Kent, the Arboretum Manager, we started this garden:
Way back in March, we took the seedlings we had purchased to the campus greenhouse and sowed the seeds in the coal black potting soil
used by the Arboretum. Week by week, we saw those seedlings grow – with the help of our sometimes sporadic watering schedule, no doubt—and ultimately put them in the bare ground.
Since, the garden has taken off. As you can see in the picture above, the garden is divided into three sections: two large rectangles and a smaller square (which really looks like an “L” thanks to our negligence in weeding). The large rectangle on the right is where the EHAUS garden once existed – EHAUS is a student co-op that tries to live sustainably and has gardened in the past. The other rectangle and the closer square (okay, the “L”) are newer additions this year that represent our efforts to double the size and output of the garden. The smaller L holds our herbs while the larger rectangles contain our vegetables.
So, what exactly are we growing? Well, the answer to that question is many, many vegetables. We have:
Pugnacious Potatoes
Opulent Onions
Persistent Peas
Spectacular Spinach
Peevish Peppers
Radioactive (okay, maybe not the most appetizing adjective, but they are spicy!) Radishes
Tight-lipped Tomatoes
Leafy Lettuces (three types!)
As well as beets, cucumbers, basil, thyme, rosemary, and dill!
As you can see from all the pictures, the garden is thriving. Thanks to the consistent weeding, watering, and planting efforts of about eight garden-minded students and the guiding presence of Claudia Kent, we have our own little Eden that puts supermarket produce to shame. All in all, I would highly recommend any and everyone give this gardening thing a shot – a small pot of herbs alone can grow some surprisingly productive (and edible!) plants.
Let me know if you have any questions/comments/concerns.
Best,
Andrew
Hey Everyone,
I hope that you all enjoyed your Memorial Day and had a chance to catch up with friends, family, significant others, etc.
Like I promised in the last post, I want to give you a better understanding of the work I am doing this summer. Essentially, the project is about writing a grant proposal to fund an educational garden at Haverford. As many of you have read or heard, interest in food and food politics has exploded over the past few years. Whether motivated by the threat of global warming, by the possibility of carcinogens in the foods supply, or by the ethical treatment of animals, people have started thinking about food a lot.
In response, we here at Haverford want to create an agricultural space where students, professors, staff, and community members can convene to think about food from a variety of perspectives. Like other high schools and colleges that have instituted farm programs (see links in the previous post), we would like to build a garden program that allows everyone to experience the growth of “real food” first-hand. With such knowledge, we hope anyone involved will go forth into the world with the desire to make real changes on the food politics front.
In the meantime, I will be doing two projects this summer to build the program. First, I will be meeting with a host of people on campus to discuss what possible model Haverford might use (any suggestions?), resulting in the written proposal. Second, I will be maintaining the small garden we planted this past semester, which will serve as a prototype for the larger garden we hope to start next year.
So, I am interested in any and all suggestions/comments. This blog is about keeping you updated on the progress of the project and, more importantly, about including some of your thoughts as to how a successful garden program might arise. More pictures and details to come!
Thanks,
Andrew
