Organic Garden Club at UA
GroGreen members practice and promote sustainable agriculture and healthy living
April 19, 2006Contact Information:
Sarah Moore, Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, 479-575-6690, skm01@uark.edu
Dr. Curt Rom, Horticulture, 479-575-7434, crom@uark.edu
Howell Medders, Agricultural Communication Services, 479-575-5647, hmedders@uark.edu
GroGreen club members Sarah Moore and Brock Pruett till the organic garden at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center and apply mulch during a workday.
Organic gardeners, from left, Trevor Baste, electrical engineering; Aaron Shaneyfelt, accounting; and John Mark Squires, mechanical engineering, work in their GroGreen plot.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A new University of Arkansas club, GroGreen, is providing organic garden plots for members at the Arkansas Agricultural Research and Extension Center on Ark. 112 north of campus.
“Our goal is to learn about organic production techniques and practice those in order to produce crops to sell to help finance club activities,” said Sarah Moore, the club’s vice chair for communication. “We hope to have an on-campus farmer’s market and market vegetables to campus food service establishments.”
Moore, a program technician in the department of crop, soil and environmental sciences, said the members hope to educate themselves and the campus community about organic and sustainable agriculture, healthy living and ecological-based lifestyles.
Members of the club are mostly students and some staff members. It is open to anyone associated with the University. For information about joining GroGreen, contact Moore by e-mail at skm01@uark.edu or 575-6690.
The garden is on about one acre of land north of the Horticulture Shop at the UA Division of Agriculture’s research and extension center. One of the faculty sponsors, Horticulture Professor Curt Rom, arranged for use of the land. Other faculty members involved are Elena Garcia, horticulture; Donn Johnson, entomology; and Larry Purcell, crop, soil, and environmental sciences.
The garden is in an area that is being certified for organic agriculture research and teaching programs, Moore said.
A member or a team of members can have a 20 ft. x 20 ft. plot to plant and maintain or they can pitch in to help with a larger communal garden, Moore said.
Brandon Crouch, a student majoring in Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences, is club chair. The other officers are vice chairs with various responsibilities, such as programs for Brock Pruett, a horticulture student; gardening for Sky Brandon, a CSES and biological chemistry major; and communication for Moore.