If, while walking along the Nature Trail this winter, you happen to notice the gradual appearance of a brand new fence surrounding Haverford College’s “Haverfarm,” there’s no need to rub your eyes in disbelief; this is all part of a master plan to reimagine and build on what our Haverfarm can do!
After at least a year of fundraising, the Haverfarm is embarking on a redesign project that will not only shield plots from the advances of rabbits and deer, but will also widen the scope of opportunity for working with the college’s surrounding community, by doubling the number of plots available to gardeners outside the student body.
The funding for this project comes from a combination of sources, including the Farm’s budget, the Arboretum and its donors, Special Projects Funding, which comes from donors as well, and the Haverford Committee of Environmental Responsibility, a group which advocates for sustainability on campus. On December 4th, a contractor is coming in to knock down the current fences which do not currently surround areas like the herb garden, and during the week of December 11th, a new fence will be constructed that extends protection to all areas of the farm. The aim, Haverfarm manager Cassandra Brown says, is to have the fence up by Christmas. When students return for the spring semester, she will be working with volunteers to install the additional rabbit fence, and reshape the area in general. And the best part? These volunteer opportunities are open to anyone who wants to get their hands dirty!
In the wake of the reconstruction, the farm will be looking for more community gardeners, and possibly pairing students with these new gardeners, especially if applying students make a commitment to sticking around on campus for the summer, and devoting time to the work. By May 1st, community gardeners will be able to reenter the space and start working their plots.
Brown says, “I think the mission is to have a vibrant community of gardeners, and I’m really looking forward to having beginner gardeners, younger families in the area getting a start at gardening, [and] having our elders be able to share that knowledge with other people … it’s only a quarter acre or less of community garden space but we’re hoping that the reverberations of the shakeup will expand for many miles outside our campus.”
On the whole, this remodel looks to the future, new programming ideas, and greater production. For instance, Bethel AME Church will be moving their garden program operations here temporarily next year while they complete renovations. Brown explains, “they donate thousands of pounds of their produce, and I’m going to be collaborating with them on a 1200 square foot area, so they’ll double the size [of the area] they [currently] have.”
Further, due to stronger protection around the herb garden, production of both herbs and flowers will increase. Such crops will be sold at Friday Farm Stands, be donated, or be used at Haverfarm workshops. The farm currently donates to organizations including the Ardmore and Narberth food banks, as well as Haverford’s own “Nest,” a food pantry that addresses food insecurity on campus.
“Having the fence creates so many opportunities for creativity,” Brown continued. “We want to put in mountain-mint, a native mint … it’s aggressive so that would be good for the bee area, and it’s good for making tea.” She also looks forward to experimenting with other crops like ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, and valerian. “I want to collaborate with students to grow crops they’re interested in,” she says.
New composting efforts on campus are working in tandem with this redesign; members of the college staff and faculty involved with Haverford’s sustainability projects look forward to placing an in-vessel composter near the Haverfarm, after completing the process of obtaining access to an overseas donation. The new system will divert organic waste streams from HCA to begin with, and hopefully progress to taking on some of the burden of waste streams from other dorms. It will also begin generating new soil for the farm’s use.
An air of possibility is simply emanating from the Haverfarm – watch for new growth in all areas of its action on campus and beyond.
