Organic Garden

Sure, we've all heard about the Organic Garden but how many students have actually been out there? I took a trip last week and learned a few interesting facts:

• The organic garden runs like a business buying compost material from the college's dining services and selling produce back to Atwater dining.
• The garden sells to restaurants (like Flatbread) as well as dining services to the tune of approximately $4000 annually.
• Volunteers keep the garden going during the school year and a special internship fund pays a few interns to work the garden during the summer.
• The garden plot sits on top of a mound specifically because of the rich, loamy soils not found in the surrounding clay-heavy land. A student did a GIS survey of the area in order to determine the best placement of the garden.
• Most of the garden's produce ends up in Atwater dining. Why Atwater? Ian Martin, the chef at Atwater, is the most accomodating to last-minute changes in the amount of produce provided.
• The popular organic garden crops are: golden beets, tomatoes, and lettuce.
• The college's composting area is located just beyond the golf course (yes, we have a golf course in addition to our ski hill).