UT Micro Farm!

Learn more about the upcoming UT Micro Farm on our new page! 

You are welcome to contribute your talents, interests, experience, and expertise towards making this project the best it can be! Start the conversation by emailing us at gardening@utenvironment.org, or talking with us at our next workday.

LBJ Wildflower Center

Our committee has begun a partnership with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center! A recent trip to the center proved beautiful and inspirational.  

The mission of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is to increase the sustainable use and conservation of native wildflowers, plants and landscapes. The UT Gardening Committee utilizes native Central Texas plants in our gardens all around campus, and is in the process of installing a new native plant garden at the UT Concho Community Garden. The Wildflower Center has generously donated to our committee plants! We look forward to volunteering at the center this upcoming Fall to further our knowledge of working with native plants.

Our most recent trip to the center was inspiring! Metal basins filled with water, lilies, and mosquito fish are a beautiful landscape element we'd like to replicate at our garden. Also, a native edibles demonstration plot brought to light some interesting Texas eats: Barbados cherry, Mustang grape, the tubers of winecups, prickly pear cactus, chile pequin, wild onion, and pink evening primrose. We'll create a similar demonstration plot at the UT CG. 

Summer worktimes

What worktimes work best for you? What do you want to see happen at the garden this summer? Take a quick moment to fill out this short survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/R5NT8CM

A great year

 

 

Lots going on at the garden these days! We've had such an incredible year! It's amazing to see how far the garden has come within its first year of existence. It's thanks to all the individuals and groups who have made the project theirs! 

We'll soon be announcing our summer worktimes. We are so excited for this season! So many delicious things are on the way (like tomatoes, peppers, and watermelon!) and so many project ideas will come into action. Among many projects, we hope to establish a native plant garden at our entrance, install wicking beds that water themselves (like they do in the Food Is Free Project!), construct a greenhouse made of recycled materials (like plastic bottles), work on irrigation projects, and develop a garden education curriculum for kids. We'll also host potlucks and events! 

This year has also strongly conveyed a growing and building interest on campus in bringing awareness and facilitating discussion of food issues. Along with other student organizations, such as the Food Studies Project, Oxfam UT, the Student Nutritional Awareness Campaign (SNAC), and Slow Food Texas,  issues of food, society, and the environment are coming to the forefront. Building on this momentum, we soon plan to expand the UT Concho Community Garden project! Look on this site soon for a page introducing the upcoming UT Micro Farm! 

 

Thanks for your support and happy gardening!