Summer Gardening

We’ve now completed our first two weeks of summer garden hours, and they’ve been a busy two weeks! Thanks to our volunteers, we mulched and weeded some of the beds, planted pepper seeds in the greenhouse, transplanted dill, basil, and parsley, planted zucchini and sunflower seeds, and harvested radishes and lettuces. We also inter-planted okra seeds among the lettuce beds  in the hope that the okra will be able to shade the lettuces during the height of summer.  And the busyness continues! Tomorrow we will be planting onions and potatoes and possibly beans as well. Come join us from 5-7 PM at Hilltop Garden and Nature Center.

Also, if you’re interested in becoming extra-involved in the garden, check out our Garden Leader Program  or email iugarden@indiana.edu about taking a watering shift (or do both!)

Finally, we now have a Facebook page!

Hope to see you in the garden!

Transplanting dill and parsley early in the morning helps the plants to be less shocked by the transplant process.

Your summer fun starts here.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Zhou

The Campus Garden Initiative is pleased to announce that the summer volunteer schedule is now online! There will be one final spring workday this Friday (4/27) from 2-4pm and then a brief hiatus before the summer program begins the week on May 7th!

There are several ways you can become involved with the Initiative this summer:

(1) Weekly workdays will take place on Tuesdays from 5-7PM and on Fridays from 9-11AM. No need to sign up ahead of time, just show up ready to play in the dirt and grow food for the campus community!

(2) You and your friends, peers, and/or co-workers can “Adopt-a-Day” at the Hilltop Garden! Monday from 9-11AM, Wednesday from 2-4PM, and Saturday from 10-12AM are ready for adoption each week! To adopt a workday, send an email to iugarden@indiana.edu with the following information: Group Name, Primary Contact (email and phone number), and Expected Number of participants (minimum of 4 required).  

(3) Our Summer Planting Day will take place on June 16th from 10am-12pm! Check the calendar for details about other exciting garden events as they are planned.

We hope you will find a way to get involved this summer! Don’t forget to spread the word.

Hooray for Firsts!

On April 13th, Chris Grey, the general manager of IMU Dining, and Stephanie Hopkins, the Campus Garden Initiative Coordinator, harvested a variety of leaf lettuce from the campus garden at Hilltop. This lettuce, pictured with Chris below, was then incorporated into the IU Office of Sustainability Internship Symposium lunch the next day.

This event not only marks the first harvest from the Hilltop Garden and the Initiative’s first harvest in 2012, but also the first time campus garden produce has been incorporated into a prepared meal on campus! Hooray for firsts!

Garden Extravaganza!

Join the IU Office of Sustainability on Friday, April 6th between 2 and 4 pm to learn a variety of sustainable gardening skills. Come for a time or join us for the entire event!

 

At the event, you’ll be able to…

-Plant seedlings in the new IU Campus Garden
-Learn how to compost with worms –  indoors!
-Learn how you can garden, even on your back porch or
with just a small yard
-Learn how to save your seeds from one year to the next

…and more!

Follow this link to register for the event.

Spring Workdays are in Full Swing!

Workdays at the Hilltop Garden are now well under way. Volunteers have been gathering every Friday from 2-4pm to prepare this campus garden for it’s first growing season. Scroll through the pictures below to see what the volunteers have accomplished since mid-February!

Garden Volunteer Workdays THIS WEEK!

There will be two workdays at the Hilltop Garden this week! Details below.

Friday, March 2nd 2:00 – 4:00 PM

Volunteers will participate in a brief Good Agriculture Practices training session and then finish starting cool season crops in the greenhouse.

Saturday, March 3rd 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Volunteers will help mark out the cool season garden plots and prepare them for planting.

Please share these opportunities with your friends, organizations, and listservs!

NEW Volunteer Calendar!

The IU Campus Garden Initiative now has its own calendar!

By visiting the volunteer page of this blog (look up!) you can view the calendar and find out when the next garden workday will be, read details about that workday, and learn about campus and community events that relate to food and gardening.

If you know of any event that you believe should be added to this calendar, send the details to iugarden@indiana.edu.