Berkeley Student Cooperative Garden Revitalization

Founded in 1933, the Berkeley Student Cooperatives (BSC) is the largest student housing cooperative in the United States. Across the coop system’s 20 residential properties, dedicated land stewards (aka- Garden Managers) care for over two acres of urban forest, vegetable gardens and backyard spaces enjoyed by 1,200+ BSC student residents. Last Spring, ten of us gathered to assess the barriers we face in achieving our goals and to envision our potential Berkeley-wide sustainability impact. We came up with a game plan, the 2024-2025 BSC Garden Revitalization, to materially support and educationally empower ourselves in our stewardship efforts.

Garden Managers meeting at the site of their future hub for a collective design workshop. 

 

With the support of The Green Initiative Fund, we have made tremendous progress in resource sharing and garden improvements this past Fall. Nonetheless, our plan remains drastically under budget, putting our largest goal at risk: building the “Garden Manager Hub.” Having found that many of us entirely lack budgets to buy plants, or cars to even access the closest nurseries, we knew we needed a nursery of our own. We've since gone on several field trips to local horticultural institutions to learn what it takes to grow our own plants, and synthesized these best practices into a collective design for our hub. Equipped with a greenhouse, outdoor plant propagation station and seed library, the hub will enable us to determine the quantity and variety of our plant stock, thereby removing the largest barrier we face in achieving our native biodiversity and food sovereignty goals.

This fundraising campaign directly invests in critical nursery infrastructure for our long-lasting, cooperatively managed, student sustainability hub. Our rigorously self-organized and multi-dimensional plan will be incomplete without your support. 

Preliminary site plan for the Garden Manager Hub

 Fundraising Goal: $4,500

Our first goal is to purchase a prefabricated greenhouse that functions as the centerpiece of our Garden Manager Hub. After thoroughly researching available models, we’ve determined that the 12’ X 7’ Zalie Greenhouse by Backyard Discover ($3,300) would best meet our needs, last the longest, and fit well in the location of our hub. Our second goal is to purchase a 12’ x 5’ durable, infection-resistant steel table from the Greenhouse Megastore ($1,250) that functions as an outdoor propagation space to harden off seedlings we’ve started in the greenhouse. These two items alone will exponentially increase our ability to cultivate crops for our vegetable beds and native plants for our pollinator gardens. All estimates are rough only, and actual expenditures may vary.

Should we not reach our crowdfunding goal, we have several back-up greenhouse options that are less durable, but more affordable and still functional. Should we exceed our goals, we also have need for tool storage equipment, a gazebo for plant propagation, a greenhouse misting kit, bulk potting mix and food for our collective construction days. We have full confidence in our ability to adapt our budget and make the most of any funds we receive towards advancing our Garden Manager Hub. Thank you for your consideration and generosity in helping bring our dreams to reality.