UNM is now offering a course designed to be a hands-on garden laboratory that will promote local food production.
Brendan Picker, one of the class’ three teaching assistants, said the class has been in the works for awhile.
“There’s been a growing trend in community gardens throughout the entire country and definitely here at UNM,” Picker said.
The class is funded through the Research Service Learning Program, which also opened two work-study positions in conjunction with the class.
A volunteer system is also being developed for those who aren’t taking the class but would like to be a part of the community garden experience and upkeep.
The class has about 15 students and will include both formal class time focusing on issues of ecology, communication and culture, as well as hands-on experiences planting and maintaining a garden in two sites on the UNM campus.
Tema Milstein, who is teaching the class, said the summer course will be about planning, preparing, designing and planting the gardens.
She said in future semesters, the class will be about maintaining and expanding the gardens, doing community outreach and connecting with a student co-op.
“We were given two sites, and if we can successfully maintain each site, we will be given more sites, so the garden can spread,” she said. “We’ve got our eye on a triangular patch of grass by the SUB. That would be an ideal spot, because it is high profile and students can go out and eat fresh, organic food grown by students for students.”
Milstein said student Alex Borowski originally came up with the idea of planting community gardens on campus.
In November, Borowski and a group of his friends planted a garden in the courtyard outside Hokona Hall but UNM Physical Plant asked Borowski to dig it up because he hadn’t asked for permission to plant it.
Another group of students, called the “Seeds of Rebellion,” decided to start a community garden. The group found potential sites for the class and started getting permission for it to become a reality.
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“They did the grunt work,” Milstein said. “They didn’t touch any seeds or any earth, and, when their class ended in May, we still didn’t know whether it was all going to come through. We went ahead and scheduled the Lobo Gardens class, but we didn’t find out until about two weeks ago that it was actually going to happen.”
Lobo Gardens is a three-credit-hour course scheduled to meet June 16 and 30 and July 14 and 28 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and will include some off-site classes.
Dan Young, director of the Research Service Learning Program, said the class’ long-term goal is to create a mobile garden installation vehicle to travel to potential garden sites and help community partners with starting new gardens.
Young said the program costs about $12,000, but all of it came from private donors.
Milstein said that the Lobo Gardens class will benefit the community.
“I think this is going to be a great opportunity for hands-on learning that each UNM department and the surrounding community can really get something out of.”
