The Cliffs Cottage at Furman

The Furman Garden

April is national gardening month and an apt time to update everyone on the new Furman garden project. Our quarter acre plot is adjacent to the new Cliffs Cottage Southern Living Showcase Home and the future Center for Sustainability at Furman. It is on the reclaimed site of the old tennis courts behind the bell-tower student residences.

For the past few months, we have been eagerly awaiting the time when we can get in the garden. During this time, a committed crew of students have started seeds and nurtured the plants in one of the beautiful greenhouses at White Oaks. Earlier this month the formal boarders of the garden were in place and the site’s compact clay soil was loosened to a depth of two feet to allow good drainage. The next step was to screen, haul over and spread composted topsoil and organic matter that had been moved from another project on campus. It was a great relief, and an example of sustainability, to use this existing on campus resource. From our soil tests we learned that we’ve got a great foundation for soil building.

Once the site was ready for us, we began building beds and incorporating natural soil amendments. We have been cutting and laying drip irrigation lines. One row of our summer cover crop of buckwheat and cowpeas has been sown and on Saturday April 26 we put our first plants in the ground.

This summer myself and 3-4 students will be tending the garden and growing over 70 varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers, many of them heirloom. Heirlooms are the open pollinated, regionally adapted varieties over 50 years old whose seeds have been saved for generations and passed down, usually by families, and most have interesting stories that come with them, stories that connect us to the natural and cultural history of the south. These are seeds that have been saved not because the travel well on a truck across the country or can sit on a supermarket shelf for weeks, but because they are productive, nutritious and they taste great. Isn’t our food supposed to taste good? Equally important is that heirlooms preserve diversity in our food supply (genetically, nutritionally, and flavorfully) that is being lost in the industrialized homogenization of conventional agriculture.

In harmony with nature and Furman’s commitment to sustainability and the amazing Cliffs Cottage, our project aims to be an experiential venue where Furman students, faculty and staff and those in the upstate community can study and research sustainability, agriculture, and food-related issues, and participate in small scale food production.

I’m most excited about working with one of Furman’s newest student organizations, the Furman Organic Garden Club. I can tell you that we will be spending far less than national average (approximately 90%) of our time indoors. We will get acquainted with the sun, soil, and the seasons, learning where our food comes from and experiencing first hand an alternative to the conventional industrialized food system. Stay tuned for more information on our weekday afternoon farm stand and we are in the process of organizing a harvest market on campus where we’ll be selling our produce alongside other producers in our community. Better yet, come by and help us harvest and take home fresh vegetables, herbs and flowers as a token of our appreciation. We will be eating well and sharing the harvest and all of our experiences along the way with the Furman community and beyond.