In a quiet spot off Alexander Street, college students are learning the fine points of growing vegetables, picking weeds and keeping critters out of their organic garden.
Started seven years ago, the garden is a place busy Princeton University students come to during the school year to find an outlet from their equally busy schedules. The idea began with one student and a small plot of land that’s grown to a club with eight student managers who have oversight of different aspects of the operation that can count on a regular stream of 20 to 30 student volunteers.
"I think one student was just really interested in sustainable gardening," said Princeton undergraduate Ellie Albarran, as she stood in the fenced-off garden where a hose is on the ground, her hands covered by dirt-stained work gloves. "Since then, there’s a group of students that tend it during the year."
She and other two other students — serving as paid interns during the summer — are working the garden on a recent Monday shortly past 6 p.m. The mosquitoes are biting, the sun has not yet gone down, and golfers can been seen on the university course in the distance.
From the street, no one might know what the three students are up to; the only indicator is a small sign that most drivers might miss. During the school year, students volunteer to get involved. "Whenever we have free time basically," said rising junior Kevin Zhang, when asked how students fit the garden into their schedules.
Most of what’s grown here — pumpkins, bush beans, herbs, cantaloupe, cucumbers and the like — is sold to university dining services, the main source of income for the garden. Some herbs go to The Bent Spoon, the ice cream shop in Palmer Square.
"A lot of it is seasonal considerations," said Mr. Zhang about how students choose what to grow. "But we start stuff in the spring and then we move into summer crops and then we have fall crops. So we generally cover the gamut of all the different kinds of vegetables that you can grow."
There is no requirement that students come with any knowledge of gardening. Like the tools they use, information is passed down from one group of student gardeners to the next.
"You just kind of follow along and just go for it (and) see what works," said Ms. Albarran, a rising junior. "I think we do have a manual somewhere, but no one really uses it."
Amy Chang, the other intern, came without any experience in gardening. She jokes that her father would never let her touch the family garden back home in Connecticut. Her specialty is weeding.
"I planted the cantaloupe. I’m hoping that it comes up. It’s slow coming," she said.
The students say the garden is organic. Each spring, students order the seeds they will plant. They recently got a load of organic fertilizer.
The student-run garden is just one place Princeton students use as an outlet to get away from their studies. Clubs, organizations and extra-curricular activities help break the so-called invisible orange bubble around campus.
"I think everyone finds their own outlet for doing things," Ms. Chang said. "I think that for a lot of people, gardening is a great one."
"For me this is fun," Ms. Albarran said. "Down the road, I would love to do some kind of urban gardens."
The garden is organized as a student-run club. But volunteers from the public are welcome to get involved, too, and can get information at the Princeton Garden Project page on Facebook.
"People are pretty much welcome anytime we’re here," Ms. Albarran said.