Despite difficulties in meeting University regulations, one student’s award-winning proposal for a community garden located in the Honors Village is finally complete.
Scott Hefner, junior in environmental design in architecture, proposed the idea for the garden in the Think Outside the Brick Competition last fall and won second place.
Hefner, also a co-Chair of the Quad Sustainability Committee, and a small team of students finished the garden after facing several logistical problems, including maintenance, sustainability, and adherence to the University architects’ guidelines.
According to Tom Skolnicki, university landscape architect, all campus development projects must adhere to guiding principles outlined in the university’s master plan. These guiding principles include sustainability, design harmony or visual unity, and respect for hallowed places.
According to Hefner, the process was more than a little challenging. University architects vetoed his original idea for hanging planters outside the dorms in the Honors Village due to liability problems. However, Hefner said he was able to negotiate a compromise.
“They were able to work with us so we could resubmit a project with similar ideas in mind,” Hefner said. “And it turned out that a garden serving the community was easier to make a reality.”
The biggest obstacle Hefner faced was finding caretakers for the garden, including times when he won’t be on campus and when he and his group graduate.
Hefner said he was able to contact organizers of the Students for Organic United Living—or SOUL—Garden, who agreed to help out with maintenance, mainly watering, during the summer. Students involved in the SOUL Garden have enjoyed successful planting since the garden won the Think Outside the Brick Competition last year, but also encountered similar certification problems.
Hefner said he hopes this partnership will ensure the future success of the garden.
“Hopefully, there will always be people in the Quad Sustainability Committee to come in and take over responsibilities,” Hefner said. “It would be too difficult for just one person.”
With the architects’ approval, Hefner and his team completed the garden a week before school ended—during the same weekend the series of tornadoes tore through the state.
However, the garden was unscathed, much to the teams’ delight.
Hefner said the garden, now yielding green beans, peas, beets, tomatoes and possibly pumpkins, will take some time to establish.
“It should take a couple of seasons for the soil to develop and to get the best results,” Hefner said.
The 5-foot by 10-foot garden plot cost around $800, with $500 coming from competition winnings and a $300 donation from the Honors Village. Hefner also said the Quad Sustainability Committee will continue to provide funding for future repairs.
According to Hefner, the garden is big enough to show the importance of growing one’s own food, and future interest might result in expansion – which would require additional approval. However, Hefner said he’s learned many lessons throughout the whole project.
“The facilities managers are definitely willing to work with you, but you need to be willing to make compromises and show them that you care,” Hefner said. “If we had taken a backseat, it wouldn’t have happened.”
Hefner also said he hopes to spread the knowledge and value of what he learned about logistics and sustainability to others.
“Through these kinds of projects, we want to show N.C. State what it means to live a sustainability life and hopefully bring the ideas to smaller communities.”
