As the summer comes to a close, the garden crew has been hard at work putting some finishing touches on the high tunnel space! With supplies coming from Maintenance and Operations, we were able to remove the plastic inside the high tunnel and begin shaping our future beds with wood chips and compost from Conservation Compost. Due to some work by Wm. T. Spaeder this week, we now have electricity in the high tunnel space.

We have been delighted to also tackle organizing the new shed. This has included the installation of shelves and a loft space – thank you Matt! With the addition of shelves, we have been able to transport items from the CORE shed and nicely organize them in our new space.

This week our sunflowers began to bloom along the high tunnel and our pumpkins have begun to turn. The lathco flat pea cover crop that runs along the north side of the tunnel is developing well. As the start of the school year looms, we are looking quite festive here at the high tunnel. If you are on campus in the following weeks, the crew would be delighted for you to stop by and check out this space!

With all the new editions coming to the high tunnel space, we also began preparing seedlings to be transplanted into our new beds in the coming weeks. Thanks to Phil Wisniewski for allowing us to use the shelving in the OBS hallway for our grow lights and seedlings! We have planted different varieties of broccoli, kale, lettuce, and cabbage. Right now they are receiving 16 hours of light and are watered every few days to ensure they stay hydrated!

As the start of the school year comes, we are all looking forward to being able to interact with students on campus. On Wednesday, September 14th from 6-8PM we will be hosting the Pull the Poly Party! At this party, we will be pulling the final piece of plastic over the top of the high tunnel, completing its construction and readying it for growing! There will be snacks, music, and great photo ops! We hope to recruit students to join our new Student Garden Club on campus as well! Through this club, we will host other garden related meetings as well as yoga classes in the garden.

We have all truly enjoyed the work we’ve done this summer. It is amazing to see all that we’ve accomplished over the course of the summer. We want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read our newsletter and follow along our journey! We will continue putting out newsletters on the third Tuesday of each month for the duration of the school year. Be sure to stay in touch with us over social media as well!