ENV Campus Projects>Organic Garden

Organic Garden

Mission Statement

The Ursinus Organic Garden is a community-supported project that promotes sustainability, uses nature as a learning tool for Ursinus students, provides a community atmosphere for volunteers, and incorporates its produce into the college’s food services. It is our hope that this project will continue to expand each year with continuing prosperity and enthusiasm as a permanent part of the Ursinus community.

History                                                Organic Garden Photos

The Ursinus Organic Garden Project was founded by Environmental Studies alumna Katy Diana (class of 2006) as her Summer Fellows project in 2004. She created a detailed plan for the garden and participation in it by the campus for the 2005 growing season. Katy worked with Environmental Studies faculty and members of the Ursinus Administration on selecting an appropriate location for the garden project. A several-acre site across the street from campus, part of the former Hunsberger Estate, was selected.

During Katy’s time as director of the Ursinus Organic Garden, a shed was purchased for the site and the first garden plots were tilled and planted. Among the crops harvested during the first growing season were several varieties of tomatoes, strawberries, eggplant, green beans, lettuces, wildflowers, and a number of herbs and spices. Volunteers assisted Katy during the 2005 growing season and much of the produce was provided to the Ursinus College Dining Services, where it was used in prepared food that were, in turn, eaten by students and faculty.  

In 2005, under Katy’s leadership, the Ursinus Organic Garden was awarded a Suburban Greening Award by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Katy also received scholarships for her work on the garden from the Garden Club of America and the Norristown (PA) Garden Club.

When Katy graduated, Environmental Studies major Devyn Madsen became the second director of the Organic Garden Project. During the 2006 growing season, she oversaw the doubling of the garden’s tilled area, adding another plot for tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, and other crops as well as a plot for raspberries. Bird houses and a picnic table were also added to the garden site.

Future Plans

In the spring 2007, Devyn worked closely with Environmental Studies majors Nina Graham and Dean Kelly on creating a master plan for the garden as part of the Environmental Studies Senior Seminar class. This plan delineates the future strategic growth of the Organic Garden Project, which are twofold: to operate a community-supported farm, or CSA, for the benefit of students enrolled in the Ursinus Summer Fellows and NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates summer program and to provide produce to the Ursinus Food Service operation that they may use in preparing meals for Ursinus students, faculty, and staff. The CSA will be run on a food-for-work basis, with students who are interested in benefiting from the garden’s produce devoting volunteer time to the garden while also working on their summer research projects. The food service operation will continue to grow as it is currently designed, with late-season crops being planted to benefit the College’s dining hall during the fall semester.

Also planned for the 2007 season are the establishment of several new crops and infrastructural improvements (including a grape arbor at the garden’s entrance), and the start of a fruit tree orchard.

For more information on the Ursinus Organic Garden Project, please write to environmental@ursinus.edu.