Mason Students Get Hands Dirty in Campus Garden

By Broadside Correspondent Katie Miller

A group of students, faculty and staff mobilized to start an organic vegetable garden on campus at the Sustainable Food Summit hosted by the Office of Sustainability in the fall of 2008. This past summer, the vision became a reality.

Integral to the project’s success is Colin Bennett, co-chair of the Food Working Group in the Office of Sustainability, who also created a very successful organic vegetable garden at his previous school, Southern Connecticut State University.

“Many sources report that up to 50 percent of the food produced in this country goes to waste. That's staggering. Rather than just complain about it, we decided to do something about it,” said Bennett.

According to Bennett, the goal of the garden is to show Mason students the benefits of going local and organic by providing an accessible outlet for receiving such food.

Located by the Potomac Housing Building, the garden will produce an array of  vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, cabbage, eggplant, black beans, beets, carrots, broccoli and potatoes.

While the garden is non-certified organic, the group has only used non-chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

“Since receiving certification is a long and arduous process, it is not something we are currently considering. Since we will most likely have a personal relationship with just about anyone that eats food grown in the garden, I think the fact that anyone is welcome to visit our garden [means] not being certified organic is okay,” said Bennett.

The garden’s yield will eventually be sold to Mason students and faculty and donated to the local community, bringing Mason’s Green efforts both into and out of the campus.        For now, the product will go to the volunteers manning the garden.

Bennett and Sustainability Research Assistant Danielle Wyman have been tending to the garden along with over two dozen volunteers comprised mostly of Mason students.

When asked if the inspiration for the garden sprung from Obama’s White House vegetable garden, Bennett said that actually, she was probably inspired by the myriad of college initiatives.

“I like to think that Obama was inspired by all of the campus gardens springing up around the country -including my garden at SCSU,” said Bennett.

“Dozens of schools have started gardens over the last few years and it makes sense that Obama wanted to do the same thing at the White House,” said Bennett.