By Addison Martin
A brand-new on-campus garden will soon be available to students.
On Tuesday, the University of Iowa Student Government unanimously passed a measure that would provide $17,000 for a brand-new student garden on campus near North Hall.
With planning and support from the UI Student Gardeners, the allocation is a big piece in the puzzle of attaining a more accessible student garden.
The current student garden is off-campus and not very convenient, said Jacob Simpson and Sophia Coker Gunnink, the co-presidents of the group.
The two said they could not be more excited about a student garden that all students and faculty can access and enjoy.
“We talk about accessibility in terms of people being able to get to the garden, but we’re really excited to have it accessible in terms of people with disabilities; we plan to have smooth paths and wheelchair-accessible beds and lots of lighting,” Simpson said.
Coker Gunnink said she is also excited about what the garden could mean for all kinds of students.
“We want to make sure we’re allowing every UI student to feel welcome, so this is a big deal to us to get that kind of accessibility on campus,” she said. “Because it’s closer to campus you can get there easily without a car, and we’ll have paved walkways so you can go through with a wheelchair, and raised beds so they are the exact height of a usual wheelchair.”
Plans for this new garden have been a long time coming, and have involved numerous faculty members and administrators.
“At the beginning of last year, we came up with a plan, and we first started talking to Housing & Dining, and we had some people in there who really liked our ideas and really wanted to get them going, so they started coming up with the plan,” Coker Gunnink said.
She said that by spring of next year, members want to start planting, which means the infrastructure of the garden will be up. UI Facilities Management will put that in place.
UISG sustainability liaison Shelby Cain said she is excited about the new garden and hopes it spurs a culture of sustainability awareness on campus.
“Since 2009, we’ve had a student garden, but having it here helps build the culture of sustainability on campus,” Cain said.
The funding that will be provided for this garden will cover most of the basics, such as seed, mulch, and tools, said Simpson and Coker Gunnink, in addition to a paid position of a garden manager who will handle upkeep.
The main reason that this garden will be able to be more successful in than those in the past is the support of UI administration and the Facilities Management team, Cain said.
“The backing from Facilities Management is one that we’ve never gotten before; this has been their dream for a while but there hasn’t been the backing,” she said.
Cain also said that the money will be funded 77 percent by UISG and 23 percent by the Graduate & Professional Student Government. This puts the UI Student Government contribution at $13,090.
Akash Bhalerao, the UISG Sustainability Committee head, stressed the importance of gardening before the vote occurred.
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow,” he said.
In the Aug. 31 article “UI Student Government to aid student garden,” The Daily Iowan incorrectly reported that the amount funded by the UISG for the garden was $1,390. That amount is $13,090. Additionally, UI Gardeners has had the garden since 2009, not 2001.The DI regrets the errors.
