"Organic" and "sustainable" seem to be the new buzzwords flying around on campus. But what do these words even mean? And what does sustainable or organic food actually entail? Satisfy your curiosity with Cultivating Community, a student program of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum that offers hands-on experiences in sustainable food systems through small-scale organic gardening, field trips to local food-related projects, and workshops on various aspects of sustainable food production and consumption.
Cultivating Community has an on-campus garden located at the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning at 1024 Hill Street, where students can come for drop-in workdays and workshops on various topics. Cultivating Community uses no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Students who visit the garden learn about organic methods of pest control and soil fertility enhancement, such as crop rotation, companion planting, and composting.
For more information or to be added to our Ctools site, please email mbgna.cc@umich.edu.
