Campus garden to provide vegetables to students

Students at the University of New Brunswick and St. Thomas University in Fredericton will soon be able to grow their food.

The campus food strategy group has obtained a quarter of an acre of land on campus that will hold 70 plots for growing vegetables and fruit.

"It's all about teaching students to grow their own food. I think my generation, more than any generation maybe ever, is truly disconnected from the food that they're eating," said Katherine Aske, coordinator for the campus food strategy group.

"We are trying to change that on campus."

The garden will be located on Mackay Drive on the UNB campus.

Aske says the group was approved for the land in the spring and work will begin this fall before the snow falls.

"We are at the exciting stage now, working with the landscape architect to craft a plan for the land."

The work is being contracted out through the university. Aske says there is still plenty of work to be done before student's hands can get dirty.

"We will have a fence built, we might build a small shed, plant some fruit trees, fruit bushes, add compost bins and a water hook-up."

Individual plots will be rented out for a small fee to students first, then group plots will be available for faculty, staff or clubs on campus.. Aske said the plan is to make the garden as accessible as possible.

Her group's goal is to generate a new way of thinking about food on campus. She hopes to see a campus market where the produce is sold affordably.