DU takes pride in being a college that actively promotes sustainability and green initiatives. This includes two significant garden spaces on campus, the Bridge Community Garden located on High Street near Centennial Halls and Centennial Towers and the Permaculture Garden located on the west side of the Korbel international studies building.
Unfortunately, both of these garden spaces will be lost this year: the site of the Bridge Garden has been sold to a developer who will construct an apartment complex on the block, while the Permaculture Garden will be removed to make room for the expansion of Korbel in August.Our university needs garden space to promote sustainability and education, as well as to grow vegetables on campus for our own consumption.

Finding space for gardens on a rapidly growing and developing campus is tough. Luckily, sustainability groups on campus have already taken initiative and spoken with the facilities department to secure room for gardens next year. A very likely spot for a new community garden is the empty lot right in front of the Boettcher West building. Since the soil there is not suitable for planting yet, compost will be purchased from Alpine Waste (they already process our dining hall compost) to fertilize the soils for planting.

Another site under consideration for a garden space is behind the chapel by Nagel, right along the main red brick path people use to get from residence halls on the south side of campus to the library and classes. This spot would be great for visibility given the number of people who walk by and its proximity to the dining halls.

The hope is to grow edible permaculture plants here, and to use them at Beans Café and at on-campus dining halls, increasing the locality of our food sources.

Producing some of our own food on campus so the salads we eat are not simply trucked in from California is a central goal of the Garden Network project on campus, according to the Center for Sustainability. This will not only cut down on the carbon footprint of the food we consume but also provide healthier, organic options that would be more nutritious since there would be less time spent in travel or storage.
There are also hopes to designate part of campus for xeriscaping, which would remove the current Kentucky bluegrass that requires many inches of irrigated water each year to grow with plants that naturally grow in Denver’s climate. This could greatly reduce water usage on campus.
The case in favor of gardens is clear: It will help remind students and faculty of our shared responsibility to care for the planet, and that perhaps it is sometimes better to let local plants grow rather than creating a cookie-cutter campus with green grass that mimics those back East. DU is committed to sustainability, so it only fits that it should make room for new garden space if current space is being removed. Additionally, gardens are a visual representation of the environment, nutrition, and minimizing our impact.

Given the number of other schools that have developed successful gardens, there is no reason why DU should not as well. And the next time you get a salad at Nelson, the ingredients may have only been picked a few hours earlier from a garden you see every day on your way to Driscoll.