In the Garden

DIG students problem-solved how to deconstruct our Umpleby garden beds using “simple tools” — such as a lever — and teamwork The master plan for our campus includes new construction on the current site of Umpleby Hall.  Although that construction is several years away, the DIG students are already planning for the eventual relocation of the Umpleby beds to the Nettie-Louise Coit Garden up the hill.  The problem includes taking apart the old beds and saving the soil inside the beds — created through years of composting lunch scraps and carefully maintaining the microscopic life and fertility within the soil — but also reconsidering the layout of garden beds in the new location and the future uses of those beds.  We expect to be doing a lot of measuring, debating and head-scratching in the months to come as we continue to work on this project.