Campus Gardening

Alright, it seems like it has been forever since I've written a gardening post. So, I've got a lot to update you about.

If you remember, the Green Society held a Green Fair in April (which was a huge success, by the way). At the Fair, a few students expressed interest about the possibility of having a student allotment on campus (US translation: "allotment" = "garden owned by an institution, but given to residents/citizens to use as they wish"). Within a few days, we had received permission from the university to begin digging in a field on the edge of campus. Although the whole field is several acres, we're just using a corner of it. Still, our corner is 2,700 sq ft, which is a big corner, as far as corners go. This is a picture of our corner from the top:


And this is the same land but from the bottom:


Ok, ok, I know that's pretty boring. But these photos are about a month old, and since that time, five of us have dug up, by hand, about a third of it. This Saturday we planted the Three Sisters (corn, climbing beans/peas, and squash), as well as tomatoes, beetroot, and dwarf french beans. Last week, we planted kale, lettuce, peppers, and more tomatoes. The space we have planted so far will be communal, meaning we all work it and all share the harvest. The remaining 2/3 of our land will be split up between us in individual plots where we can grow what we like and maintain it ourselves. We're all very excited about it! In the next few weeks I'll try to get some pictures of what it looks like once dug an planted. Good stuff!

It's a great area as far as wildlife is concerned. Yesterday, we saw two pheasants, a hen and a cockerel, treading through the high grass about a hundred feet from our garden. Last week we heard the cockerel calling non-stop (pheasants are very loud), but this week he was pretty quiet. There are also two badger setts and many rabbit warrnes in the nearby trees. Hedgehogs and foxes are bound to be around too, but I've not yet seen any.