Multimedia: Students cultivate community with campus gardens

With the start of the fall semester, new and returning students are enjoying the fruits (and vegetables) of their peers’ labor. Lewis & Clark’s two student gardens are brimming with produce thanks to the vision and dedication of a group of undergraduate students.

The Bucolic Farmers Society, formed last fall, brings together students committed to building community and fostering sustainability through the creation and maintenance of gardens on campus.

“Our grand plan is to have beautiful garden spaces that grow as much produce to feed Lewis & Clark students and the community as possible,” said junior biology major Lucien Childs-Mitchell.

Last spring, group members converted an underused sand volleyball court into the second garden on campus. Students named the new garden, located near the Forest residence halls, the “David Rosengarden” after a member of the Campus Living staff.

The other garden, located on south campus, offers much more space but is farther away from the dorms. The new garden is more accessible, and group members hope to keep it flush with food for students to grab on the way to class or herbs to make a quick cup of tea.

To ensure that the gardens are sustainable, members of the Bucolic Farmers Society successfully applied for funding for a summer gardener position. Childs-Mitchell filled the post this summer, tending both gardens in what was an unusually wet season for Portland.

Learn more about the students’ vision for the gardens in this video, which features footage from late spring and early summer.

For more information about the Bucolic Farmers Society, or to get involved in the group and attend future garden events, contact gardenclub.lc@gmail.com.