Potatoes are another favourite in our beds; digging them up, being amazed as one after another is unearthed and celebrating each new spud with cheer, is always a highlight of the season.
The Keele Campus Garden Project
By Jacob Noble,
PhD student and former student allotment co-lead
The Keele Campus Garden Project is a student-led initiative for creating and maintaining spaces around campus dedicated to letting students enjoy the wonderful art of gardening. Simply put, we’ re a kind of student gardening club.
We’ re an informal group, and we like it that way, as it lets the group branch out into whatever gardening or wildlife-focused activity captures our interests and lets our members share their individual passions.
We mostly care for two beds in the Walled Garden Allotments on campus, but we also organise and take part in events like foraging, apple picking, and tree planting, plus the occasional picnic( we’ re actually getting quite good at picnics now). At its heart though, the Garden Project is driven and led by its student members, which means we need YOU to come and help guide our next mission!
The things we’ ve grown in the past include potatoes, onions, cabbages, tomatoes, courgettes, strawberries, sunflowers, peppers, beans, peas, and more! As in every garden, some plants like our beds more than others, which means not every experiment with a particular vegetable or variety is a success. We’ ve had plenty of triumphs, though. Our sunflowers last year, for example, were giants— easily over 3 m tall! Digging them out at the end of the season proved to be a challenge in itself.
The student beds in the walled garden are the mainstay of the Garden Project. Other beds are maintained by staff and residents of Keele village, and a waiting list exists for those interested. In our beds, we grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs year-round; whatever our members want to eat, use, or see, we try our best to fit it in.
Potatoes are another favourite in our beds; digging them up, being amazed as one after another is unearthed and celebrating each new spud with cheer, is always a highlight of the season.
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