University of Alaska Anchorage
Tier2-2: Organic Garden

The garden was started by the UAA Sustainability Club this summer - 2011. It consists of 4 3' X 12' beds and 4 whiskey barrel containers. The students obtained permission to use University land for this purpose and obtained donations for the supplies to build the garden and the vegetables in the garden. The Sustainability Club describes the garden as: "Growing" out of our values and interests in local food and sustainable, small scale agriculture, the UAA Sustainability Club has set out to build a garden on campus. We intend to establish a venue for all members of the UAA community to practice local food gardening and enjoy its many benefits -- educational, productive and therapeutic! Although the garden will be student-led and recruitment efforts will be targeted at students, participation is open to students, faculty and staff alike. The harvests will be shared with the volunteers and the rest of the UAA community through open picnics and banquets throughout the season for purposes of educating people about the importance of local food. Any food surpluses will be donated to local soup kitchens such as Bean's Cafe. The Sustainability Club intends to share the experience and educational benefits of the garden as broadly as possible through educational signs in the garden as well as on an Internet blog. In the future, they hope to see this project expand and develop into an ongoing gardening program that provides locally-produced food, internship opportunities for students and the chance for all members of UAA to participate in local, organic food gardening.