Campus Garden
With more than a dozen fruit trees, an apiary for beekeeping, chicken council, herb spiral, an earthen oven, living roof, pond, and composting program, the Campus Garden is a flourishing sanctuary for wildlife and hands-on learning.
The Center for Environment & Society supports the activities of students to manage an edible forest garden that follows permaculture principles, supporting ecological vitality while producing food for people. Students cultivate a relationship with the natural world. And they acquire food & lifestyle skills that promote individual health and well-being.
Animals - Create nectaries for beneficial insects, pollinator corridors, and habitat for bats, birds, reptiles, and amphibians; explore the inclusion of livestock in closed-loop systems.
Vibe - Grow an edible classroom and wildlife sanctuary that conveys a sense of tranquility, environmental renewal, and cultural reinvention.
Structures - Showcase low-impact, sustainable technology using natural and salvaged materials for cooking, food processing, teaching and learning spaces, and recreation.
Stormwater - Capture runoff from impervious services through the use of rain gardens, swales, ponds, cisterns, and soil infiltration techniques.
Fertility/Waste - Build soil by producing mulches and fertilizers through composted food waste and vegetation; cycle nutrients.
Food - Establish a mosaic of annual and perennial crop production infused with wild edibles in a multilayered forest garden; demonstrate educational models of useful nutrient-dense polycultures that thrive in the local foodshed; involve students in cooking, food processing, and preservation techniques.
Yields - Provide cutting-edge student learning and leadership opportunities in regenerative food production; host campus and community outreach workshops in gardening, cooking, wildcrafting, and natural building skills; develop fiscal self-sufficiency; create online profiles for useful plants featuring student-driven research; inspire permaculture sites across the region; redistribute surplus produce to community organizations in need.
The garden offers a tranquil, creative space for collaboration with groups such as the Academy of Lifelong Learning, Department of English, Department of Environmental Science and Studies, and Compost Club. Fall and Spring Break trips include camping and traveling across the country.
The collaborates in the space to bring expertise and guidance to students of all ages.
Community partners include the Chestertown Garden Club, Lands End Farm, Lucky Pick Farm, the , , , and New Grounds Composting.
Garden Location
The Campus Garden is located behind 508 Washington Ave. From campus, drive past the baseball field and park just past the rainbow fence.
- kthornton2@washcoll.edu
- Semans Griswold Environmental Hall
Garden Mission
Achieving food security through ecological design.
Vision
The Campus Garden reconnects people with historical foodways and explores future food resources that support environmental resilience. Students inspire healthy communities through the practice of permaculture and the multidisciplinary study of the environment.
Projects in the Campus Garden
Beekeeping
After an introductory class, students care for a hive of honeybees in the Campus Garden.
Herb Spiral
The herb spiral is one of the central points of the Campus Garden. It provides our community with not only medicinal and edible plants but a beautiful and relaxing sight. It was constructed to provide drainage for plants that need less water, which are placed at the top, and plants that need more water, which are placed at the bottom.
Permaculture Principles
Permaculture is a philosophy and design strategy that seeks to align our lives with patterns in nature. It guides the mission and philosophy of the Campus Garden, a space all students can explore the connection between food and biodiversity.
Permaculture is a paradigm for human culture based on three ethics:
- Care for the Earth – replenish ecosystems on which we depend
- Care for People – meet human needs
- Fair Share – a balanced approach to diversity and inclusion
Garden Location
The Campus Garden is located behind 508 Washington Ave. From campus, drive past the baseball field and park just past the rainbow fence.
- kthornton2@washcoll.edu
- Semans Griswold Environmental Hall
Garden Mission
Achieving food security through ecological design.
Vision
The Campus Garden reconnects people with historical foodways and explores future food resources that support environmental resilience. Students inspire healthy communities through the practice of permaculture and the multidisciplinary study of the environment.