Edmonds College
ER-T2-2: Organic Garden

EdCC's Community Garden efforts kicked off in the spring of 2012. The lot was an underutilized space on campus with a couple of garden beds sporadically maintained by the horticulture department through classes and some scraps, weeds, grass, and the like. In a matter of months, the garden has transformed to a beautiful community space thanks to the dedication of our student farmers and volunteers. The garden now has over twenty five beds, two bee hives, winter hoop houses, and a cob oven. Sustainable and organic gardening methods are practiced and whenever possible repurposed materials used. The Community Garden uses a model called the Farmer Frog Model, in which two student urban farmers lead the efforts under the guidance of faculty, and student, staff, and faculty volunteers help with the weeding, watering, harvesting, and general maintenance of the garden. In exchange for 4 hours of work, volunteers get to take home a portion of the harvest. Other classes, such as anthropology, English, horticulture, and developmental education, utilize this dynamic space to learn about healthy food systems, organic gardening, traditional cooking systems (with the cob oven), and more.