Philosophy of the UEL Community Garden:

A GROUP OF PEOPLE: Over 30 people contribute in a significant way to the garden. The group is composed of community members as well as students and professors from Brown University. The UEL Community gardening experience is open to everyone! Members come from across racial, economic, and social classes help manage the raised beds and the common areas. Couples may work together to manage an entire bed. A group may collectively manage neighboring beds. Beds or plots may also be managed individually.

GROWING ORGANIC FOOD IN AN URBAN SETTING: Resulting in part from a senior thesis, the garden began in the summer of 1984 on the site of a former parking lot. Its purpose is to demonstrate how to maximize organic food production in a limited space. Central to the garden's existence are its goals of community education and horticultural experimentation. It also is intended to be productive-to produce organic food items-basil for pesto, tomatoes for sauce, raspberries for jam-as well as demonstrative. The community garden serves the public through education, public relations, and as a resource. It is a destination for field trips for students from local primary and secondary schools, as well as plant ecology classes at Brown. The UEL library, located just inside the Center for Environmental Studies is open to garden members as well as the community. It contains a wealth of knowledge on gardening technique, sustainable agriculture, and organic food production, among other things.

FORMS A COMMUNITY OF RESPECT: Two student coordinators work with gardeners to maintain the garden, to plan projects, and to build an overall sense of community. They accomplish these tasks in a number of ways. They write a monthly newsletter and facilitate a newsgroup, which is used to pose questions to the group as well as to send reminders. The group meets on a monthly basis for potluck dinners. During these lively meals, issues are discussed and harvests are shared. Gardeners are also asked to attend the workdays held twice a month. Workdays take place either during the weekend or on a weekday after 5 o'clock. Furthermore, special activities are planned (such as September's Harvest Festival or trips to a local farm) throughout the year.