Hampshire urban permaculture garden
The Hampshire Dining Commons is located in the Southwest residential area at UMass, a very urban area with high rise buildings and concrete paving. Building a garden in this section of campus gave the UMass Permaculture Committee the opportunity to showcase how food can be grown in areas with limited arable land. With 54% of the world population and 81% of the U.S. population living in cities, students were excited about showcasing urban farming techniques. Four mobile wooden planters, which also function as benches, were designed in collaboration with the Landscape Architecture Department at UMass. Students from LARP (Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning) participated in a design studio where they worked in small groups to create schematics for the site while students in the UMass Permaculture Committee designed the polycultures that would fill these planters.