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Chef's and Herb Gardens

A student-driven initiative

The Chef’s Garden project was initiated by one of our students (now graduated), Meghan Summers, to encourage campus sustainability. Meghan completed her fourth-year project with a proposal to turn the field behind the Banting Building into a market garden on campus. That seed was planted and we now boast a 1.1-acre (121’ x 400’) Chef’s Garden to produce food for campus dining using organic principles and a mandate for sustainability.

Educational resource

The vision was to also provide an educational resource for students and the public—a living classroom that also acts as a collection space for plants as the campus expands on its goals for the Chef's Garden. The Chef’s Garden has also taken up the responsibility of improving campus sustainability by providing a means to supply food to the kitchen from other sources on the Agricultural Campus.

Planning

The garden produces a highly diverse crop, supplying the kitchen with produce. In the course of production, the consumption needs of the kitchen and crop production plans for the Chef's Garden will be refined to reflect a more detailed production cost and production plan for the following years.  

Crops being produced include beets, broccoli, lettuce, radish, spinach, cauliflower, cucumber, zucchini, green beans, wax beans, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, cabbage, onions, turnip, squash, parsnips, and carrots.Â