Sustainable Approaches to Food Production

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT REFERENCES PERMACULTURE TECHNIQUES VERTICAL GARDENING CONTAINER GARDENING Permaculture is a system of ecological design that aims to create more sustainable communities: its principles reinforce to participants understanding patterns of nature, learning food production, managing water catchment and storage, utilizing renewable energy, and building communities. A permaculture system is the exemplary sustainable approach to food production systems that the Campus Garden aims to bring to the University at Buffalo. Using the framework “Grow better, not bigger,” the ultimate goal of this research is to double the amount of food production to forty-pounds, in the same 20’x20’ plot of the UB Campus Garden. To advance the Garden’s vision and further emphasize the importance of sustainability, it is our goal to explore different gardening techniques for implementation during the growing season. We aim to educate individuals on gardening techniques, prove that implementation of these techniques is plausible at various sites, and expand the understanding of the importance of food production. Application of permaculture principles allows for maximum growth potential in the 20’ x 20’ garden plot. Using aspects of a permaculture system we begin to create a more sustainable and prosperous food system. The main permaculture techniques being tested are companion planting and guild creation. Plant guilds are a beneficial grouping of plants that support each other in different ways. Some of the ways the plants support each other are exchange of nutrients, physical buttresses, and by promoting diversification [1]. Plant guilds are created by using companion plants. Companion plants are plants that can be grown together in the same area that will allow both plants to flourish in ways they otherwise would not if planted by themselves. In our research, five different plant guilds are created to evaluate the principles of permaculture. Container gardening allows for an increase in productivity while optimizing the available planting space. This method focuses on growing annual vegetables in various containers positioned around the perimeter of the garden plot, to analyze the effects of companion planting techniques and how different container types effect growth. Utilizing two types of containers, wooden-rectangular and plasticround, we will plant two groupings of plant species. The first plant combination includes peppers, tomatoes, onions, and geraniums. The second plant combination includes cucumbers, eggplants, lettuce and marigolds. Keeping the types of plants constant on two sides allows for evaluation of the overall productivity of the plants grown in different containers. The vegetables were grouped based on the principles of companion planting which proves to enhance growth and create an integrated pest management system. To better engage the UB community it was important to gather baseline data of the UB community’s understanding of the Campus Garden. The group distributed an electronic survey to the UB community over a period of four weeks, questioning individual knowledge of the work at the campus garden. We obtained the following results: Of 745 Respondents50% Have not heard of and did not know location 97% Have not volunteered 86% Did not know CDS uses herbs from the Garden 75% Agreed it is important UB improve Sustainability 76% Agreed is it important to know Source of Food We also work with many partners around campus: [1] “Edible Forest Gardens.” [2] Tricia Chaves, “Companion Plants for Raspberries.” (2015). SFGate: Home Guides. [3] Joan S. Bolton, “Succulents.” (2013). Santa Barbara Garden Design Blog. [4] Geoff Hamilton, “Organic Gardening.” (2011). DK Publishing Rear bed 1 contains sea kale, walking onions, and collard greens. All three have different root structures allowing for maximum use of the soil. Each species has insect repellent properties. Seal kale is a mulch-maker and walking onion are a fungicide. [1] Rear bed 2 contains asparagus and comfrey. Both have tap roots but at different lengths utilize nutrients from various layers of the soil. Asparagus is a nematocide and comfrey acts as a chemical barrier and mulch-maker. [1] Front bed A contains agave, sage, and a butterfly bush. Sage and agave grow well in low water conditions. [3] The butterfly bush will attract pollinating insects which will be useful for all plants on site. Front bed B contains rhubarb, jack in the pulpit, and lily of the valley. All are medicinal plants. Rhubarb brings nutrients up from the bottom layers of the soil; lily of the valley acts as groundcover; jack in the pulpit adds biomass. [1] Front bed C contains raspberries and garlic. Raspberries benefit from garlic because it accumulates sulfur, acts as a fungicide and pest fighter. Raspberries require much space between plants which allows for more growth room. [2] Rear bed 1