Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT)

What is the Humboldt Community Garden ?

The Humboldt Community Garden is a provided space for students to learn and practice growing food and other plants organically.

The Humboldt Community Garden is to provide space for students to learn about and practice growing food and other plants organically. This garden will facilitate healthy living by promoting organic practices and encouraging students to eat fresh, local produce. In addition, the space will provide a place where people can gather and share in the common experience of growing their own food. The garden will serve as one avenue to practice collaboration and learn to care for the commons. The garden also provides a number of benefits:

Promotes recreation and healthy living:

The physical and mental health benefits of gardening are well known, and there is a long history of gardens being used therapeutically. In addition to the therapeutic side effects of gardening, gardeners will also reap the health benefits of the organic food they produce for themselves.

Increases accessible recreation:

Outdoor activities and gardening practices have traditionally been geared towards those without physical limitations. With this garden, we look to challenge these traditional views by creating an accessible space that allows for the participation of all body types and backgrounds. This will be a gem of the campus, as there are few locations accessible to people in wheelchairs and other alternatively-abled people to recreate in a similar outdoor activity.

Increases sense of community and student retention:

All community gardens have one thing in common: community. CCAT has long been an entity that promotes the importance of strong communities. A community garden that aims to attract diverse people can provide an opportunity for community development and increase campus cohesiveness. According to the Humboldt Student Engagement and Leadership Support homepage, “research in higher education indicates that the more students are engaged in their university learning community through class participation, student leadership positions, or engagement in university activities, the more successful the students are likely to be.” The community garden will provide a unique type of space for students to establish a sense of direct involvement on campus and will lead to students being more invested in Cal Poly Humboldt.

From its inception, this garden’s central intention has been to promote inclusion of underrepresented groups and strengthen the campus community by creating cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary connections through an activity that is fundamental to all our existence: production of food. In this way, the community garden will provide a way for students to collaborate and learn to functionally operate within the community space.

Acts as a catalyst for activism:

Food is a commonality among us all and can be the necessary element that drives activism and community involvement for people who might otherwise not be encouraged to do so. At Humboldt, this is incredibly important.  While an active campus community, campus movements seem to lack the vigor and participation that historically made Humboldt such a successful, activism-oriented community.

Facilitates deep connection to the land:

Growing one’s own food provides a fundamental connection to the land, which would otherwise not be present. Being connected to and reliant on the land promotes stewardship of that space; it encourages people to care for the land which provides them with sustenance.

Promotes the conservation of resources:

Humboldt strives in many ways to facilitate living lightly on the land, and CCAT has been an integral part of this from its inception. Producing local, organic food decreases fossil fuel use by demonstrating an alternative to the normal production chain of industrially-produced food. Organic gardens also preserve green space and biodiversity.

Diversity of aesthetics:

The approved area for the garden is located westward of the Jensen House. With hard work and student involvement, this space will become not only functional---but beautiful. The community garden space will be a departure of the usual lawn and trees landscaping which is typical of campus. With a little love and intention, what has been nothing more than a lawn, now has the potential to become an inviting, creative space.

Provides financial benefits:

While not a primary goal of the garden, student, faculty and staff will benefit economically from the self-production of food. This will help relieve the impacts of stretched budgets because of increasing educational costs.

Creates future prospects:

The community garden, located next to the Jensen House has been framed as a pilot project throughout the negotiation. By determining student interest and involvement, it has the potential to demonstrate the need for an expansion of garden opportunities elsewhere on campus.