Site Will Be Testing Ground for Sustainability Research; Community Garden Moves to Dane Street
Image by Ed Brennen
09/06/2017
By Ed Brennen
Lydia Sisson looks across the fresh blanket of soil inside the university鈥檚 new 1,800-square-foot Urban Agriculture Greenhouse on East Campus and imagines the possibilities. Rows and rows of spinach, kale, arugula and cilantro. Hearty shoots of ginger and turmeric. Countless tomato, pepper and snap pea seedlings.
But Sisson, a 51视频 alum and founding co-director of Lowell-based urban farming nonprofit , also sees something more: a testing ground where university researchers and students, along with members of the community, can develop new and efficient ways to use water and energy to grow sustainable crops year-round.
鈥淭his is a space where we can think about innovation in urban agriculture,鈥� says Sisson, whose organization is partnering with the Office of Sustainability to help run the new greenhouse, which was constructed this summer behind Donahue Hall.
The 30-by-60-foot polycarbonate structure replaces a smaller plastic greenhouse and community garden that opened in 2012. As part of the new greenhouse project, the community garden has moved to a university-owned parcel of land on Dane Street, near University Crossing. The new community garden, also run in partnership with Mill City Grows, features a half-dozen raised beds available to students, faculty and staff, as well as members of the Acre neighborhood.
Image by Ed Brennen
Associate Director of Sustainability Ruairi O'Mahony helped secure $145,000 in grants from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources to fund the 鈥渄emonstration sustainability site.鈥� He says the funding gets the infrastructure in place for hands-on research by faculty experts.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to identify issues in urban agriculture and use our academic expertise to find solutions in a real-world setting,鈥� says O鈥橫ahony, who envisions potential National Science Foundation grants generated from work done at the greenhouse.
Mill City Grows will manage the agricultural production inside the greenhouse (and on an adjacent outdoor garden space beginning next summer). Twenty percent of the produce grown will be donated to nonprofit organizations in the city 鈥� including the student-run Navigators Food Pantry. Mill City Grows, which runs two other urban farms in Lowell, will sell the remainder of the produce back to the community.
鈥淲e鈥檝e never had a greenhouse like this, so we鈥檙e thrilled to be able to grow year-round,鈥� says Sisson, who earned her master鈥檚 degree in economic and social development of regions from UML in 2012.
According to O鈥橫ahony, the first year will be spent studying how to maximize the greenhouse鈥檚 production by using as little energy and water as possible. The greenhouse will initially be heated by passive solar energy (direct sunlight), although solar panels could be added to the site later to power heating mats or germination boxes.
Image by Ed Brennen
鈥淲e want to figure out how to power this completely off the grid,鈥� says O鈥橫ahony, who is seeking additional grant funding for future stages of the project.
This winter will be spent determining which crops grow most efficiently in colder weather. For instance, instead of heating the greenhouse to 70 degrees in February to grow avocados, O鈥橫ahony says they plan to find region-specific crops like potatoes and carrots that could grow at 40 degrees, thereby reducing the energy load.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to figure out how load requirements relate to produce that will be grown in there,鈥� says O鈥橫ahony, who will be working with a pair of energy engineering faculty members 鈥� Prof. Christopher Niezrecki and Asst. Prof. Juan Pablo Trelles 鈥� and their students on these efforts.
To maximize water efficiency, the greenhouse collects rooftop rainfall in a 1,300-gallon subterranean tank connected to its downspouts. The stored water will be used to irrigate the indoor crops. Plans also call for a rain garden to be planted on the north side of the greenhouse (facing the Merrimack River) to filter any runoff before it reaches the river.
Image by Ed Brennen
The garden soil is also sustainable; free compost is delivered by Casella Waste Systems, the university鈥檚 solid waste contractor. It鈥檚 possible that the greenhouse vegetables will be growing in compost generated, in part, from the university鈥檚 dining facilities.
O鈥橫ahony notes that several of the university鈥檚 nutritional science classes that previously visited a Mill City Grows farm in Dracut 鈥渘ow can cross the bridge and see how it鈥檚 applicable on their own campus.鈥� That type of academic connection, along with the ability to develop locally produced food, means the new greenhouse will help boost the university鈥檚 already-gold STARS sustainability rating.
鈥淥nce we get the greenhouse up and running and show people that it鈥檚 feasible and successful, that will open a lot more doors for us,鈥� says O鈥橫ahony, who adds that 鈥測ou can鈥檛 put a dollar value on what Mill City Grows brings to the table鈥� as a partner.
鈥淥ur campus is the city, and I don鈥檛 think we could have a better partner in trying to solve the urban food issues that are so important to its residents,鈥� says O鈥橫ahony, who notes that access to healthy food in growing cities is quickly becoming a global issue. 鈥淚f we can help solve this one major issue, this project can pay for itself a million times over.鈥�
