HISTORY
The Monmouth College Educational Garden began in 2010 with a college start up grant sponsored by faculty, administration, and trustees of the college. The initial grant served as seed money to attract a generous grant from the Environmental Protection Agency that has since underwritten community development projects and collaboration with local schools.
WHAT WE GROW AND HOW WE DO IT
We plow and till garden beds with a BCS diesel walk-behind tractor. We fertilize with horse manure from Rainbow Riders (local stables). We block and grow our seedlings under grow lights generously provided by the local police department. As gardeners, our goals are health, beauty, permanence. Practically, we follow intensive gardening methods proposed by Jeavon, Elliot, and almost anyone who comes by with a neat idea. On a small piece of land, we have: compost bids fed by food service vegetable scraps; garden beds for twenty-some-odd vegetables; a berry patch, a mini-orchard of semi-dwarf trees; a grape arbor, bees; a rainwater system for irrigation run by a solar powered pump; an edible herb garden, a small rain garden, a flower garden, a small prairie plot of grasses and wildflowers, and seating in the shade.
EPA GRANT
The Monmouth College Educational Garden is made possible by an educational grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, based on three main criteria: Educational Advancement, Enhanced Teaching Skills, and Community Projects. The MCEG seeks to address the environmental issue of the impact of agricultural practices upon the environment, with focus upon sustainable, small and medium-scale farming methods and garden cultivation, the environmental benefits of local production and consumption of food stuffs, and the connection between sustainable, environmentally-friendly, locally-consumed produce and good nutrition. Funded by this EPA grant, the MCEG achieves this through interactive programs, field-trips to the campus garden, workshops for teachers, parents and community members, this website, and the involvement of college faculty and students in the fields of teacher-education, environmental science, chemistry and biochemistry. The EPA has also provided funding for community outreach projects associated with the garden, including kiosks at the local YMCA and Warren County Library to exhibit reading materials and resources for children and parents. The MCEG plans to work closely with the Monmouth-Roseville school district by providing curriculum resources for teachers in association with sustainable, healthy living. Materials to further community education will also be provided in key areas such as school lunchrooms, the Warren County Public Library, Jamieson Community Center, Warren Achievement Center, OSF Holy Family Medical Center, and the Warren County USDA Service Center.