E.S. King Village, an on-campus apartment complex, hosts many international students and visiting faculty, as well as those with families. But what sets E.S. King Village apart from other University Housing establishments is the quiet atmosphere, the strong sense of community and a lush garden, according to Tim Blair, associate director of University Apartments.

On the west side of the property, a plot of land is available for anyone wanting a garden of his or her own. Blair said this feature attracts residents to the apartments, which are west of Wolf Village.

“The demand is not so great that we have 40 people lined up, but we have people come in the very first day the plots are made available, and in the first week we have most of them gone,” Blair said. “The folks that use them tend to come back year-to-year.”

Blair said they tried to make the process of attaining a garden plot as easy and sensible as possible. 

“It gets plowed and quartered off. We break it down into different sizes, so folks with a family can get a larger plot, or a person in a studio apartment can garden a smaller plot. We then send an e-mail out to the community to see who is interested in renting. Usually, we have things ready around late February and residents rent through December so they can put in a spring and summer crop and a fall crop,” Blair said.

The 20 plots available for rent range in size from 24 feet by 48 feet, to the 12 feet by 30 feet. Rent for these plots ranges between $15 and $25, depending on the size of the plot, to help cover the cost of plowing.

In keeping with the University”s commitment to environmental conservation, the University’s waste and recycling program delivers compost made from the leaves picked up across campus to help fertilize gardens.

The village also provides a garden shed to store tools and materials, as well as a nearby pavilion to encourage enjoyment of the greenery.

Because E.S. King Village has a strong tie to the international community, the gardens reflect the diversity of the residents, and many are not native to the United States. 

 ”With such a high international community, you do see vegetables that you wouldn’t normally see in an American garden, like different lintels or squash. It’s fun to see how the different cultures use the space. Because these are smaller plots, there’s a lot of mixed use — tomato plants in the middle of bean plants — and instead of rows, the plots tend to be planted more in squares with a border around it,” Blair said.

One enterprising gardener even trained beans onto a trellis that hangs over the walkway between plots to maximize the available space.

Gaiping Chen has lived and gardened at E.S. King for the past four years while her husband finishes his degree in plant pathology. She grows vegetables native to China, including long beans and bitter melons.

“Bitter melons are a health food that is very popular in China,” Chen said. “If you feel very hot or have ulcers in your mouth, these can help. We couldn’t buy them in the American stores.”

While describing her summer garden, Chen gave a melon to an E.S. King Village office employee with instructions on how to make bitter melon soup.

The garden is so important to the residents that they end up looking after other plots and try their best to protect them.

“We have our challenges,” Blair said. “We sometimes have situations where nonresidents get into the garden and take ripe fruit or vandalize the crops.  But there are enough people keeping an eye out to report when that happens.”

Community Operation Coordinator Arthur Sweeney is a new addition to the E.S. King Village staff, but despite being here only a few months, he already knows how important the gardens are to the residents.

“It’s what sets us apart from any other community you’ll find,” Sweeney said. “Even when I was interviewing here, it was a very visual indicator of our mission we have as a department to put students first. You can see our values clearly walking through the community and the gardens help show that.”