GRoW garden gets ready for spring

You may have noticed a few things have popped up at the GRoW Clean Energy Center near the Flint Road entrance on the North Campus since the fall. Most notably, 11 new raised beds were built by a team of students under the guidance of UB Sustainability and University Facilities.

Members of the campus community will be able to apply to adopt a garden bed starting this semester. Gardeners will be able to use the space to grow foods that they choose. (In a test run, an autumn crop of radishes successfully grew in one of the plots.)

“The goal has always been to make the Solar Strand and GRoW more of an active space,” says Derek Nichols, associate director for sustainability. “Moving the campus garden over to that space is one part of the plan for activating the area and building a community around food and sustainability.”

There are also plans in the works to develop outdoor classroom space at the site.

“There is a strong desire among the campus community for hands-on engagement opportunities with the campus landscape,” adds Daniel Seiders, landscape architectural planner in UB Facilities. “The community garden is a good jumping off point for that. We want to grow this area organically and let the campus community play an active role in that.”

Sustainability is currently accepting applications from student clubs, academic units, and on-campus departments for the adoption of a raised bed. There are also volunteer opportunities for prepping the soil for the forest on March 28 and 29. For more information or to sign up, visit the Sustainability website or email Derek Nichols at djn2@buffalo.edu.

Work is also underway on the installation of fencing around the garden at the GRoW Clean Energy Center.

The fence is being put up to keep deer from grazing on the garden.

Sustainability is looking to connect with UB faculty members who might be interested in using space in the garden for research or experiential learning. Anyone with ideas is encouraged to contact Nichols.