Students get together to start a new organic community garden near campus that is?another step forward in local sustainability
By Maureen Inouye Features Reporter
"Slug? We have a slug on campus?!" Yes, we do have a S.L.U.G. on campus this year, although most students seem confused about what that actually means.
S.L.U.G. stands for Student-Led Unity Garden and is one of UP's newest student activities. This organic garden is filled with produce planted and harvested by UP students and members of the North Portland community.
Started last semester by several students in the College Ecology Club, the garden is located at the end of North Warren Street, about a block from Tyson Hall.
The project started when students decided that UP needed an organic garden to promote sustainability practices and to bridge the gap between students and the community.
"Sometimes it seems like UP students are in a bubble," sophomore Andy Taylor said. He believes students should get to know their neighbors - the people who live in the area around campus. Because of this, he and his fellow organizers wanted to create a project to share with the community.
Basically an offshoot of the Ecology Club last year, this year S.L.U.G. is a recognized UP group in its own right. The co-presidents are Taylor and sophomore Anne Carey. Other founding members include sophomores Gretchen Riehm and Joseph Hanson-Hirt, and Cassidy Sullivan, a 2007 UP graduate.
The group has been hard at work since S.L.U.G.'s beginning. The garden's produce includes tomatoes, pumpkins, green beans, herbs, onions and cabbage. The offerings vary by seasons, but Taylor said the group's October event will be a traditional pumpkin harvest.
"We'll probably harvest them around Halloween," he said.
The S.L.U.G. group plans to have regularly scheduled meetings, as well as days for planting and harvesting. There are weekly tasks and a watering schedule that require community and student participation. For information on how to get involved, e-mail slugproject@gmail.com.
Members of S.L.U.G. have big plans for the garden's produce. One of their tentative ideas is to run harvest stands outside the soccer games so all students can partake of the garden's crop yield. Eventually they also plan to donate produce to the Oregon Food Bank and to Bon Appétit for use in Cove and Commons meals.
"Our focus right now is community outreach," Taylor said. Members have attended neighborhood association meetings with this goal in mind, to let local residents know about the project and how they can become involved in maintaining the garden. The ideal S.L.U.G. event would include a lot of students and a number of community members, he said.
The S.L.U.G. board also plans to advertise on campus because many students have never heard of S.L.U.G.
"I was like, we have a what at UP?" senior Lauren Gusdorf said.
The S.L.U.G. has a view of the river and a painted garden shed right next to it. The officers of the group encourage everyone to visit the garden.
Students are allowed to take any of the produce available for personal use. Everything is free - just go to the site whenever you want and take your pick.
When the group decided to pursue the Unity Garden plan, it raised $1,000 from different groups and people around UP. Bon Appétit donated $250. Some of the private donors included Martin Monto, Edward Bowen and Herman Asarnow - all UP professors.
The group now plans to purchase tools, as it has been borrowing tools on planting and harvesting days. The $1,000 was used to buy soil and seeds. The University pays the water bill and leases the land to the group as well.
"The administration and everyone have been really supportive," Taylor said.
UP's S.L.U.G. represents a growing trend toward community gardens not only in Portland but also in the United States. According to the American Community Gardening Association, Portland alone has more than 30 community gardens. There are an estimated 150,000 across the U.S.
Portlanders are increasingly concerned about maintaining sustainability practices in an economic environment that makes it difficult for small farms to be successful and, in response, have created many of their own urban gardens.
Gusdorf was excited after her first visit to the garden. "This is amazing. And so close. Why did I buy tomatoes today?" she asked. She picked some tomatoes and green beans before walking home.
