Gardens & Farms

At 15 feet tall, the new hoop house for the Society for Ecological Restoration's UW Chapter (SER-UW) serves as a reminder of all the hard work 50 student volunteers put in over the course of six days.

Working eight to ten hour shifts, students from UW’s Construction Management department, Sigma Lambda Chi and volunteers from SER-UW set out to construct a 30 foot by 48 foot hoop house at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Now, the student run native plant nursery has room for about 5,000 plants in the hoop house.

Rebeca Rivera has gone above and beyond to involve students, faculty and staff in sustainability efforts across the UW Bothell campus. She is in the process of trying to start a garden at the UW Bothell campus, which is pending approval from the university. If all goes well, Rivera will begin the garden as soon as possible.

The UW Farm's 2015 annual report is out - learn what the Farm accomplished over the past year, including raising over $10,000 to build a shelter and two earthen ovens at the Center for Urban Horticulture—a space that will serve as a wash-pack station and community gathering venue for years to come.

Read the full report here.

Did you know that there are nearly 500 dairy farms in Washington state?  According to the Department of Agriculture, milk is the No. 2 agricultural commodity in Washington, produced by both small and large scale farming operations. One UW student is working to learn how to make dairy production sustainable across the state.

Whether it’s conserving water or donating unused food, the University of Washington Club is always looking for new innovative ways to stay sustainable.

“We try to align ourselves with the University’s commitment to environmental stewardship,” said Jenelle Ebisu, the UW Club’s general manager. “We’re always trying to support the environment as much as we can.”

Each quarter, the UW Farm hosts a "Farm Lunch" seminar for students interested in learning more about urban agriculture. The informal seminars can be taken for a credit, although all are welcome to join in the discussion.

For the upcoming 2016 Winter Quarter, the Farm Lunch seminar will will highlight a mix of local farmers, policy makers and deep conversations about the work of building a resilient food system. The seminars will meet Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in Wallace Hall 120. 

The UW Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration is holding a native plant sale on Sunday, Nov. 15, from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the SER's nursery at the Center for Urban Horticulture. 

UW's ENVIR 480: Sustainability Studio class in the Program on the Environment presents students with a sustainability topic which they engage in as part of an experiential learning course. The topics change each quarter - this spring, the students researched the UW's environmental history. This is part of a series of posts by the students on some of the information they uncovered.

Photos courtesy of UW Botanic Gardens and Larry Howard

The UW Botanic Gardens was recently voted as one of the best university gardens in the nation. With more than 20,000 plants from around the world, it has become an international hub for plant science and ecosystem research, teaching and stewardship.

You may not have noticed, but as you walk around the UW campus more of those plants and flowers at your feet are species native to Puget Sound.

That’s because UW’s Society for Ecology Restoration student guild (SER-UW) native plant nursery has been working to restore areas on campus by increasing native species biodiversity and creating open spaces for students to engage with the natural world just steps from their residence halls.