New Brooklyn College Garden to Serve Academic and Sustainability Initiatives, Community Participants

Brooklyn College announced the creation of the Brooklyn College Garden that will serve as the basis for a broad spectrum of academic and sustainability initiatives for faculty and students. Members of the surrounding community will also be welcomed to plant on individual plots, which will be assigned to them on a yearly base.

The garden, to be situated at the campus Avenue H entrance and bordering the college’s athletic field, is designed to be approximately 2,500 square feet. Provost William Tramontano will appoint a faculty coordinator in the coming weeks who will supervise the academic initiatives and oversee the management of the garden for use by community members. The coordinator will report directly to the provost.

"The Brooklyn College Garden is an exciting part of our academic mission," said Tramontano. "A working garden on college grounds will provide our faculty and students with the opportunity to explore such important issues as health, nutrition, organic farming and sustainability practices. At the same time, the garden will underscore one of our most important tasks—to create educational opportunities for the public and extend ourselves as good neighbors to the surrounding community."

To ensure the garden is up and running in time for this year's growing season, the college’s landscapers will lay out the grounds over the next month, defining the area with a low, decorative wrought-iron fence to protect the beds from activity on the adjacent athletic field. The college will supply water, garden tools and storage.

The coordinator will consult with community gardeners about space and repositioning existing plants from the temporary community garden. The plants will be carefully relocated in front of the West Quad Center to create an inviting new garden. The college envisions the new green space as a "Serenity Garden" with comfortable seating for visitors to linger.

Information about intended educational programs and how to participate in the garden will be distributed to the community by the coordinator. The college expects the garden to be ready for planting by April 1.