Growing Strong

Volunteers needed to help cultivate large selection of produce in GW’s Foggy Bottom community garden.

June 3, 2013

GroW community garden

The George Washington University’s GroW Community Garden offers the university community a living, growing opportunity to learn firsthand about sustainable agriculture and food production. For the 2013 growing season, the garden includes several new additions, including pairings of vegetables and fruits that grow well together and “stepables”—hardy plants that can take a beating.

New plantings in the garden include peanuts and broccoli, said rising junior Haley Burns, a public health major who served as garden manager for the spring semester. And whenever possible, the garden’s seeds were sourced locally, she said.

“This year, we ordered all of our transplants from a local farm called Three Part Harmony Farms,” Ms. Burns said. “This was new for us, but it makes us even more a part of the local food system. Some of the seeds they use are even cultivated from other local farms.”

The garden, which is located on the north side of H Street between 23rd and 24th streets on the Foggy Bottom Campus, grows a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs. After harvest, the produce is donated to Miriam’s Kitchen, a local organization that provides nutritious meals to the homeless. The garden’s bounty includes carrots, eggplant, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, squash, zucchini, corn, figs, artichokes, rhubarb, raspberries and blueberries.

Summer garden manager Mari-Claire Dart, a rising senior and environmental studies major, said she’s especially excited about the corn and the peanuts, both among the new crops for the GroW garden.

“We planted [corn] last year, and hopefully this summer we will have a successful yield. The peanuts are slow to grow, but they're new this year and we're excited for the challenge of growing and harvesting them,” she said.

Ms. Dart said the garden also includes “companion plants” this year—vegetables and fruits that are cultivated together because they grow well in the same space. The garden’s companion plants include strawberries and chives, and broccoli and radishes. Marigolds are also planted along the perimeters of all beds because they serve as a natural insecticide, she said.

The addition of “stepables”—tough, easy-to-grow plants that spring back after being stepped on—will make the garden more inviting.

“We are putting them in our community space, along with stepping stones. It will clean up that space nicely,” Ms. Dart said.

Ronda Chapman-Duer, a sustainability project facilitator in GW’s Office of Sustainability, said the GroW garden is an example of the university’s commitment to sustainable food production.

“The GroW Garden is an example of a thriving urban garden with the additional value of being a learning environment,” she said. “The Office of Sustainability encourages the entire GW community to support the GroW Garden and other urban gardening in Foggy Bottom, as an important element of our local ecosystem and a pathway to lasting community relationships.”

The garden opened in September 2009 and is managed by the Food Justice Alliance, a GW student organization, and aims to provide the community with local and organic food, protect and enhance GW’s ecosystem and promote community service.

Volunteers are always needed to help with garden upkeep, including weeding, irrigation and harvesting of produce, Ms. Dart said. Staff members, faculty and students are all welcome, and can email [email protected] for more information about volunteering.