Lehman Vegetable Garden Takes Root

Lehman gardeners prepare for their first planting.

Members of the Lehman community now have an opportunity to exercise their green thumbs. The College has created its first-ever vegetable garden—on the lawn in front of the Fine Arts Building—to bring people closer to their food sources and promote the idea of eating locally.

"This is an opportunity for the Lehman community to get together on something that is not specifically academic," said Health Sciences Chair Andrea Boyar. "It's also one more opportunity for people to see what it's like to grow food and to learn more about where their food comes from."

The organic garden was the idea of Professor Boyar, who was inspired by the creation of the White House vegetable garden, and Professor Marilyn Aguirre-Molina of Lehman's M.P.H. program, who also directs the new CUNY Institute for Health Equity. It will produce vegetables, including a variety of peppers, broccoli, collards, cauliflower, tomatoes, beans, peas, red cabbage, cucumbers, lettuce, and carrots, and also herbs like parsley, basil, and thyme.

From these plantings, the garden will produce a variety of vegetables and herbs.

Students from the Adult Learning Center will tend the garden, while Dietetics, Foods, and Nutrition students will collect the produce for work in the College's Food Lab. No artificial fertilizers will be used—only the compost generated on campus.

Professor Boyar sees the Lehman garden as a wonderful opportunity to connect with other community gardens in the Bronx. "Local schools that don't have their own gardens can come here to learn from looking at our garden," she adds.

For more information, contact julissa.cruz@lehman.cuny.edu.