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Last updated: Thursday, May 24, 11:59 a.m.
News

Student’s capstone could lead to flora in the fountain

The Maine Campus | The Maine Campus
By Helen Brown
Posted on Feb. 08, 2010, at 2:30 a.m.

The indoor fountain in Memorial Union was a place where students could escape the stresses of classes and homework, allowing the gentle sounds of the water to take them far away. It also served as a wishing well, students tossing in their pennies — perhaps hoping for snow days or for homework to be made illegal.

Now, passersby probably ignore the empty space filled with rocks and rust. The fountain sits empty, a victim of burst pipelines. But that’s not good enough for Danielle Gagner.

The fifth-year new media student has a vision that would replace the empty, useless space with one that would give back to the community. She has a plan for an indoor garden that would grow seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs. The garden would be free to students, who could come and take what they want. Any leftovers would be sold at the Orono Farmers Market.

Gagner was given wide range for her capstone project, which has allowed her to create plans for the Free Student Garden, as she calls the project. She has teamed up with members the Soil and Water Club, the Horticulture Club and the Sustainable Agriculture Enthusiasts, though Gagner has not formally engaged with any of these groups. While Gagner has gained the support of students, she still does not have administrative support.

Gagner’s hopes to find an organization who could maintain the Free Student Garden after she graduates, and has already planned the garden’s layout. It would have a cascade effect, with seedlings at the top and fresh, ready-to-eat items at the bottom. There is plenty of light from the huge skylight above the fountain and watering is built in, though the pipes would have to be fixed to prevent leaks.

Though she has a plan, Gagner is worried the administration will not immediately warm to her ideas. She said the administration is “adverse to change and very conservative.”

The maestro behind the free garden is no stranger to creative gardening. Gagner also created “seed bombs” — clusters of compost, soil and seeds encapsulated in terra cotta. The bombs can be tossed in a wet place and a mini-garden will pop up where it was thrown. In addition to the free garden project, Gagner plans to give seed bombs to students in an effort to promote the revitalized fountain. She said she came up with this idea because she always has to plant twice as much to ensure any harvest at all.

“Half the things I plant, I kill,” Gagner said.

Gagner said she needs all the support she can muster to sway cautious administrators, and will be creating an online petition for students to sign. She is hopeful administrative members will approve her plan. Because the empty fountain is a small enough space to be maintained on a low-cost budget and would be entirely student-run, Gagner believes she may have better luck getting the plan approved than earlier attempts to turn York Village into a green housing unit.

If all necessary approval is granted, Gagner anticipates that the garden could be started by the night she presents her capstone in April. She will present the plan to her capstone advisers soon, marking the first step in ensuring that this plan comes to fruition.

CORRECTION:
An earlier version of this report stated that Danielle Gagner is working with Sustainable Agriculture Enthusiasts, the Soil and Water Club and the Horticulture Club. While Gagner has been in communication with individual members of these groups, the groups are in no way affiliated with her plan for the Free Student Garden.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010, 2:30 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.

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  • SYork11

    This is an awesome idea! I walk by that fountain frequently and it is pretty ugly as of right now, but putting in a cascading garden would make an otherwise drab location look beautiful! I also love the idea that students can take fruit from the plants! I hope this gets approved!

  • Sadie Jenkins

    Although this is a noble idea, there are some huge flaws in the plan presented. One of the main points is that this is a”low-cost” solution. Well, fixing the water pipes is not low cost, nor is installing a proper irrigation system. The temperature in the building would have to be raised substantially to promote any plant growth and soil fertility will have to be maintained by chemical inputs, both of which are ongoing expenses. Also, assuming a student group will maintain this after her graduation is hopeful at best, especially considering she has yet to actually propose this idea to the “Sustainable Agriculture Club” (properly known as SAgE or Sustainable Agriculture Enthusiasts, by the way…). I invite Danielle to actually attend a SAgE meeting some time if she would like us to get involved.

  • Rebekah Hale

    I have to say I agree with Ms. Jenkins on this one. Where does she plan to get the money to do this, and if it’s so easy to get the money, why don’t they just fix the fountain?
    Her proposal is a little ambitious in the regards of volume she thinks this garden will create. It’s a SMALL area… if students are allowed to take what is produced from the project, I think she’s a little silly in thinking there will be enough left over to sell at the Farmer’s Market..
    Not to mention, (I was speaking to a friend about this), indoor plants tend to need a lot of pesticides. I don’t know about you, but I really don’t want those chemicals anywhere near where I might be eating.
    Plus, if this is going to be maintained, it would be kind of a pain for anyone working on it during the day. Those stairs are used pretty frequently.
    In addition, for this really to be even remotely worth starting this project, she would need to find a dedicated group of students to keep this going… and… I don’t really see that happening, esp. if, initially, she doesn’t gain a strong following for the project.
    Personally I think putting some sculptures students from the art department created, along with fixing the fountain and adding some indoor plants that are simple to care for might be the best rout if ANYTHING is to actually be done with this space.

  • tavi

    I personally, as one familiar with the difficulty of maintaining student interests in such projects – and a big fan of the old fountain – think it’s a poor plan. As much as i support sustainable agriculture and making people more aware of where their food comes from – and actively engaging them in its creation (as a past president of SAgE), some ideas seem great but are too involved to be done well. Think back to the loads of energy poured into a past “Eco-Summit” to brainstorm a green living area at UMaine and you’ll know what i mean about the best-intentioned ideas. The fountain was a lovely stimulus to think, to wipe away stress, to center ourselves. If anything is going to be invested into that – can we PLEASE have the fountain back?

  • Anon.y

    Perhaps the university of Maine would have more money to spend if they didn’t bulldoze entire roads just to install useless bell statues in the middle of it.

  • Dan

    This sounds like a great idea. Even if it doesn’t go through right away, her capstone plan will be available and administration can be offered the option of implementing it. Certainly it could be used in a variety of situations either at the fountain area or otherwise. Kudos to this student for at least bringing an alternative option to the forefront.

  • Danielle Gagner

    Thank you all for your support and valuable input. I would like to remind people that I am in no way in a major that teaches anything about horticulture and anything pertaining to it, so your ideas are very much appreciated. When this idea was hatched, it was a hopeful notion without much knowledge behind it. That’s why this is a hopeful collaborative experience.

    That being said, things have happened kind of fast. I presented my capstone on a Monday, purely as concept with some design and contacts behind it. That same day, I was contacted by the Maine Campus to do an interview. I hastily sent an email to any club/department that might be interested, and got back many positive emails from students that were involved with these clubs who were anxious to volunteer. However, I only got one email from a club leader, Greg Edwards, who is the president of the Green Team. Shortly after, there was an interview.
    I apologize to the clubs that were mentioned that there was a mixup. I am well aware of the outrage that some of the clubs have had at being in the article, but please let me assure you that I meant people from the clubs on an individual basis, not the clubs formally. There wasn’t enough time to attend meetings, so I just tried to establish a dialogue before the article was sent out. I do plan on attending various club meetings to gather input, however since this idea went from concept-to-article in a 48 hour time span, there simply was not enough time.

    Once I attend a few meetings and get people’s input, then this can be tossed around as to whether or not this is a feasible idea. If it isn’t, it can either be attempted to be made into one, or at least used to raise awareness as to other possible green projects that could be accomplished on campus.
    Everyone, thanks for your time and attention – it means so very much to this project.

  • http://newmedia.umaine.edu/generic.php?id=220 Jon Ippolito

    What really excites me about this project is that it is not cloistered off in a greenhouse few students will ever visit, but quite literally under their noses. I don’t see it feeding even a sizable fraction of the students who walk in the door of the Union, but that’s not the point. (Though an herb garden might offer a high food density and practical value–I would love to be able to walk over to pick some cilantro for my salad.) Rather I see the debate spurred by the design proposal as valuable in and of itself in raising the consciousness of the university community.

    The garden may not have to be an unnecessarily expensive endeavor if organized according to Permaculture principles–not some elaborate hanging garden of Babylon, but more akin to the humble Living Machine like the kind demo’d on campus a few years ago to clean water with little more than rushes and snails. And yes, some practices in the Union might have to change–like wiping down the fountain with bleach and other toxic cleansers. But that’s what I find exciting about the project–that introducing something alive into a very commercialized public center could create ripples that spread awareness out across campus.