Sustaining though Design

is a film about good design and how it can manifest change.
As I was designing the edible landscaping plot outside of the Sustainability Resource Center, I was thinking about design. Gardens are inherently mutable. They are growing, alive. They need attention. In this way, there is something to be said for designing a water-wise garden with few inputs such as fertilizer, insecticide, herbicide, and heavy water use. However, even the most hands-off design needs maintenance. Such is the nature of domestication. As I was setting up meetings with staff at the Sustainability Resource Center, I was thinking about it as product designing. A garden is a highly social product, just as malleable as it is physical form. Gardens need attention and care. Even if  that care is minimal: in this case, harvest and pruning.

This is what the landscape would look like without human intervention: sagebrush and sand. I have boiled it down to this: in order to have an aesthetic, intentional landscape used by the campus community, I am trying to design the smallest amount of necessary input in order to achieve the highest and best outcome. Like a native ecosystem, this plot should exemplify self-sufficiency and low water use. However, in order to make the best use of an important, currently unused, public space, implementing some maintenance is acceptable in return for exemplary food security.

Landscape of Dreams, Harnessed, Implemented, Maintained

The Landscape is dry, gray, and wintry, although the season has been unpredictably warm and Springy. My thoughts wander to garden planning, crops to plant now so that we will be able to harvest them in months to come. The herbaceous shrubs and crocuses are greening up in landscaping areas across the city. I dream of those landscaping plots converted to low-maintenance, colorful, edible enhanced ecosystem-mimickers! These are places where people can come together to share common abundance of resources. As I dream, I plan. I measure. I discuss and design. The meeting last week provided a boost of information and access to amazing resources.

This week I hope to pull together design iterations, compile resources and calculate costs. Soon enough, the soils will support roots and vertical structures will provide lab space for the curious and creative minds in this place.

Progress Report

Today I met with three women experienced in the field of landscaping and groundskeeping. Sue Pope, Director of Grounds at the University, Marcene Younker, expert of the University's outdoor garden plan, and Michelle Cook, Red Butte Garden Specialist.

When we had planned this meeting, we had agreed to host it at the "visitor center". I assumed it was the campus visitor center in the Union Building, but after waiting for 8 minutes with no landscapers to be seen, I called Sue and learned that they had all gathered at the Red Butte Gardens visitors center. It took about 20 minutes to bike the circuitous route to the garden center, a brutal reminder of the severe lack of clear paths through campus and Fort Douglas. When I finally arrived, it was to a spacious, well-ventilated roomful of thriving plants. The three women stood in front of a tapestry-like living wall, observing it like a Georgie O'Keefe masterpiece. Sue gave me a reassuring side-hug as I convened with the group. I felt 30 minutes of anxiety dissipate as everybody introduced themselves and we started in talking about the edible landscaping project.

Three main items came to light.

1. Pocket-style vertical garden planters are extremely expensive and high maintenance, especially outdoors. They are also not very edible-friendly. Although they make aesthetic gardens and are a great demonstration, I am tentative to jump into a commitment like this so soon.

The alternative that came out of today's discussion was the agreement that a grape arbor would make a great alternative. Grapes take about 3 years to establish and start producing. Iconic examples of thriving grapevines grace neighborhoods across Salt Lake City.  Planting two grape plants with a climbing structure on the entryway to the Sustainability Resource Center, I think, would create a kind of Secret Garden appeal.

2. Plants: My initial list of plants was seriously assessed and advised by the trio of landscapers. The lowest-maintenance, water-wisest, highest producing, and most beautiful plants came out in a list looking like this:

Fruiting Shrubs:

Serviceberry

Grape

Herbaceous/Other Shrubs:

Rhubarb

Lavender

Sage

Small Herbs:

Thyme

Oregano

Flowers:

Echinacea

Daylilies

Yellow Sego Lily

Dwarf Rose (hips)

3. A contingency plan is imperative. I am in touch with Jen Colby, the Edible Campus Gardens Coordinator. Her reluctance to commit to a new project is almost as strong as Sue's. My temporary presence on this campus is important to the initiation of this plot, but after I leave, it needs to remain and sustain. I am designing for low-maintenance: watering once a week and public grazing to control harvest overflow. But to put Jen's mind at ease, I think that Grounds needs to stay involved as well. Right now, there are a few tall native grasses and Oregon Grape shrubs on site. These are pruned yearly. If Grounds can continue to prune the bushes and shrubs once a year, I think it will provide a continued connection with sustainability for them and be highly beneficial. 

This Black Soil, A Model of Resiliency in the Face of Adversity

The Bayview community existed in isolation from the rest of the developing world in a depressed state socially, environmentally and economically. Its transformation over the course of time was a radical change in all three of these interdependent spheres. The threat of something specific caused the uprising and empowerment of the community, which, in turn, changed the mentality of the community as a whole. The people became more socially empowered. The physical environment was much more amenable to comfortable living. The economy was bolstered by activity and the three spheres of sustainability were intact and progressing.

To begin, the community of Bayview is socially isolated. The community was established as a whole and it became a social expectation to live in poverty, without running water and many basic amenities. The social bubble effect was stifling to progress and impeded sustainable actions to enhance the community. When the community was threatened by the installment of a federal prison, they knew it would be a socially destructive force. Thus there was a move towards preserving the good in the community which created an awareness and a motion towards environmental improvement.

This leads to the next sphere of sustainability. Environmental events in the community of Bayview are especially impacting because, again, it is isolated. If a resource is over-harvested, then alternatives are scarce on an island. The nature of Bayview is its lack of accessibility and overall control. One natural tendency in a desperately isolated system is to exploit resources until they disappear. It appeared that this was the sad fate of Bayview’s natural resources until social action caused an influx of outside resources which boosted Bayview into a more steady state. With more infrastructure, and no prison to absorb all of the region’s resources, the community can now more effectively steward the land and its resources.

Finally, the economic sphere of Bayview was radically transformed as a result of (and along with) the enhancement of the social and the environmental spheres. Without the implementation of the federal prison, the community realized its own potential to create local revenue that would much more effectively support the community.

Environmental Justice is defined roughly as “fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies”. Many communities are marginalized and exploited socially because their natural resources are sought after and cheap. This is exemplified specifically in Bayview. The title of the documentary, “The Black Soil” implies fertility and potential for growth, as well as exploitation. The film clearly portrayed the intended abuse of the community. This Black Soil is a perfect example of environmental justice in action.

Imagine each department with their own flowerbed...

The Sustainability Resource Center moved! Its last location in the oldest building on campus did not provide much awareness or accessibility. Now, the center is located on Commonwealth Avenue, across from Architecture and Planning. The location is close to the library and the main plaza. At the moment, this is what it looks like:

The landscaping is wearing its winter coat. The concrete is plain, and the space is unremarkable to say the least. However, as I stated in my last post, there is great opportunity for thriving edible landscape and creation of place here. At most, this whole landscaped area could be converted. The pre-existing bunching grasses and landscape trees could accompany berry bushes, herbal medicinals, flowering pollinators, and perennial vegetables. And at the very least, hanging vertical structures could liven up the entrance and provide aesthetic, healthy snacks for passers by. 

Hanging gardens could easily attach to these concrete poles and soak up all the floodwater that saturates in precipitation. 

These boxes have historically drained poorly and lead to flooding in the lower entrance area. Additional organic matter and living plants could eliminate these problems and utilize Utah's precious water with the respect it deserves. Redirecting rainwater is a large component of edible landscaping. Making a beautiful, artistic water catchment system piping into this garden could be a really great way to demonstrate the applied ethos of the SRC.

This Monday, I will be meeting with Myron Willson, the director of the SRC and Sue Pope, director of University of Utah grounds crew. Sue experiences pressure from all sides to make the campus look one way or another. An image of homogeneity and clinical cleanliness is the expectation for most large universities. But with principles of urban ecology and permaculture, the campus can be much more purposeful, attractive and sustainably interactive. 

The Flu

Last week, I got the stomach flu. Nothing will humble a body, weaken a mind, and desocialize a creature like the stomach flu. So unfortunately I missed one blog entry.

However, this week's recovery has resulted in revitalization. After much hydration, rest, and loving support, I'm back in the (bicycle) saddle again. The University of Utah campus is at a low hum. The city is enveloped in dense fog, and the House of Representatives passed the Keystone pipeline bill. There is much to be done.

Small-scale, grassroots projects are the life blood of Urban Ecology. But there are thousands of those and there is a threshold of overwhelm that people reach. Any given person trying to make a difference will ask themselves "Should I help out to the Urban Gardens Society? The Bike for Better Air Club? What about the Holistic Homeless Support Program?" Etc etc. There are so many organizations and projects doing wonderful things, but they often lack the platform to get the message out at all! Providing a space on the University of Utah campus for everybody and anybody to express their creativity, personality, and hard work is feeding a clear need. The idea of creating a kiosk for social engagement is one that fills me brimming with excitement. the potential is tremendous. It will mean a lot of coordination, communication, and skill, but I am confident that the result of such a project will be incredibly impactful.

I discovered a precedent for this kind of platform in Montreal that was tied closely to my own interests and passions. At McGill University, students were awarded for a design in edible landscaping. The edible crops planted in repurposed materials serve as a platform for teaching about progressive urban development and greening the system. The project has expanded to several areas on campus. They have served as a place to teach, learn, and relax.

At the entrance of the Sustainability Resource Center, there are large, underused planters and plenty of space to spruce up with thriving, low maintenance edible landscaping. It seems to me that this could be the ideal setting for a socially engaging kiosk.