SDSU Garden Gnomes
Students are teaching sustainable methods on campus with the help of a community garden.
Tucked away behind the faculty building and just before the Mediterranean garden is a sustainable garden.
The sustainable garden known as the San Diego State University’s Garden Gnomes was started by Marguerite Mauritz in Nov. 2010. She wanted to have a sustainable garden on campus that was open to the community and would spark an interest for sustainability in students.
“We want to show students how easy it is to grow food and for students to see what produce looks like when it is growing,” Mauritz said.
Garden Gnomes is a student-run project. Volunteers weed and pick the vegetables, and choose which seeds to plant.
“I became involved with the garden simply by passing by it when I was familiarizing myself to the campus,” Steven Warner, a graduate student in public health said.
Produce
The garden is home to more than 15 different kinds of produce. They are constantly changing what they plant and plan according to the different seasons. Right now the garden is home to a variety of produce including:
- Kale
- Tomatoes
- Arugula
“There are no specific criteria on what crops we plant, planting is mostly dictated by space, and preference of the planter and what we have in our seed bank,” Warner said.
Participants have given their produce away at the SDSU Farmer’s Market and have provided produce for the faculty lounge.
“My hope is to provide more produce for the faculty lounge,” Mauritz said. “We want to show SDSU that gardening is easy and anyone can do it.”
Getting involved
This garden is open to the public, and Garden Gnomes invites anyone to pick some of their vegetables or help tend to the garden.
The club meets on Fridays at 1 p.m. at the garden. There is no membership fee for the club.
