MARQUETTE, MI— Northern Michigan University has begun construction on its new Woodland Park Garden project.
The two-block site is at the corner of Neidhart Avenue and Norwood Street, right behind Woodland Park Apartments. The gravel portions of the roads have been closed and will be absorbed as part of the garden.
Jes Thompson is Assistant Vice President for Sustainability at Northern. She says two large hoop houses will be installed, along with ten raised beds and a large compost demonstration area.
Thompson says the university received funding for the project from the Hunger Free Campus Initiative, which aims to create capacity on-site to feed more students fresh food.
“Marquette is in a food desert, and that area of campus is actually like on the Environmental Justice EPA dashboard as a food desert, where there’s more people who are food insecure than secure.”
Thompson notes the garden will be a space where anyone from the community can come to learn how to grow food in a northern climate and how to practice different sustainability initiatives at home.
The hoop houses—which will triple growing space on campus—are expected to be up by the time students return for classes in late August.
More information about the project can be found here.
