Campus Sustainability Fund Proposal:
Permaculture Perennial Guild Garden
1. Executive Summary (Please describe the overall purpose/goals of your
project)
The Permaculture Perennial Guild Garden is a display and study of permaculture
perennial plant guilds in an event hosting site. It provides visual demonstration,
experiential learning, and a place for community to gather in sharing, learning and
celebration. With the addition of the Greenhouse Café the site will provide a social hub
for students, visitors, University of Washington Botanic Garden (UWBG) patrons and
parents of children in educational programs. Below are the main points of this proposal:
Permaculture – Permaculture is driven by a set of principles and practices to design
sustainable human settlements (Hemenway, pg5). Two Australians, Bill Mollison and
David Holmgren coined the term, in the early 1970’s. The rationale being that if
indigenous peoples had been living harmoniously in their environment for thousands of
years, surely they must have figured something out about sustainability. Thus modeling
human settlements and agriculture after natural systems is the most harmonious,
sustainable, replenishing method of design.
Successional Plant Guilds – In nature, ecosystems thrive in various successional
stages. After a disturbance, pioneer species (grasses, ferns, and weedy types) take
advantage of the new vacancy, colonize the disturbed area, and in so doing, serve to
stabilize and build soil structure. This first successional stage is followed by shrub types
that are then followed by tree types that with time develop into a mature canopy. The
farther along an ecosystem is in its succession, the greater its biodiversity and resilience
becomes. Conventional gardening mimics immature landscapes. It requires a lot of work
to keep other plants out, remove dead plants, mow, fertilize, etc. In natural landscapes
these cycles are all part of the process that allows for self-regeneration. By intentionally
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selecting species to function in this way, one can increase abundance and vitality and
decreases unnecessary maintenance.
Event Site and Café – In addition to providing a functional display and educational
garden, the Permaculture Perennial Guild Garden will serve as a venue for both formal
and informal gatherings with revenue generating potential. True sustainability, after all,
must include financial support.
Renewable Resources – Also included in this plan are several aspects of resource
conservation. By installing solar panels on the south-facing roof of the existing
greenhouse structure and establishing a rainwater catchment system, we will greatly
increase our efficiency in the use of these resources, save money on costly utilities, and
provide a home-scale model of sustainability.
The UWBG seeks $80,000 to support the creation of the Permaculture Perennial Guild
Garden and additional upgrades to the site just south of the Washington Park
Arboretum’s (WPA) Graham Visitors Center (GVC), set amidst existing greenhouses,
and locally referred to as the “Back 40”. These upgrades will allow us to meet our goal of
fostering stronger relationships with the UW community and beyond by engaging UW
students and Seattle residents alike with a demonstration of perennial edible
landscaping in a conveniently located and self-contained space.
The garden will serve in academic curricula as an outdoor classroom for urban
homesteading, food forestry, and sustainable food production. It will provide ample
opportunity for future capstone projects, internships and volunteer positions.
A proposed café and newly created rental space will add revenue to fund future projects
and help make the garden financially sustainable.
Finally, the Permaculture Perennial Guild Garden will make an impressive permanent
addition to the growing list of sustainability projects at the University of Washington
and aid in its mission to be a leader in the burgeoning green economy.
*WHAT: A practical demonstration garden in close proximity to the GVC that puts to
good use an area long neglected while positioning the UWBG to be the regional
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authority on a hot topic at the forefront of public interest epitomized by the local food
movement.
Academic Value: as an extension of our woody plant collection featuring a
variety of edible perennials that grow well in Seattle, natives and other hardy
plants of interest; as a trial garden to test new varieties/cultivars that hold
potential as city street trees that could be used in such programs as the Green
Seattle Partnership.
Educational Value: as a demonstration garden for the homeowner, future
homeowner, and general public to learn about edible landscaping; as an outdoor
classroom to teach students of all ages, elementary to college aged, about best
horticultural practices and sustainability while providing opportunities for
hands-on, experiential learning and a venue for service learning to take place; as
a platform from which to offer a whole new series of course offerings and
continuing education classes related to cooking, fruit tree maintenance,
integrated pest management, etc.
Economic Value: as a desirable rental space for weddings, anniversaries, etc.; as
an additional space for UW events and prospective student tours; as a way to
increase sales for the volunteer-run Pat Calvert Greenhouse by increasing foottraffic and awareness; as a way to garner “good press” among the community and
appear relevant and in-tune with public concerns.
Additional Value: as a way to increase inter-departmental collaboration between
UW Colleges, such as the College of Built Environments, the College of Education
and the College of the Environment; as a way to strengthen partnerships with
various stakeholders such as the Arboretum Foundation, the City of Seattle, the
King Co. Master Gardeners & Puget Sound Bee Keepers Association; as a way to
build UWBG team unity by breathing new life into a forgotten area and providing
a “commons” in which to hold outdoor meetings, volunteer parties, etc; as a way
to further improve current educational programs by providing a suitable place for
groups to eat lunch; as a way to enhance the visitor experience by providing an
aesthetically pleasing and practically interesting display garden in close
proximity to the GVC.
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*HOW: Primary funding for this project will be sought from the Campus Sustainability
Fund. We feel that this project perfectly embodies the goal of the Campus Sustainability
Fund which is “to create a sustainable campus and foster an environmentally conscious
University culture by funding student-led projects that lessen the University’s
environmental impact”. A core feature of any project accepted by this fund is UW
student involvement. Over the past year, the UWBG has cultivated a partnership with
the UW Farm and the Urban Farmers Student Organization by providing space to grow
vegetable crops at the UWBG’s Center for Urban Horticulture. The Permaculture
Perennial Guild Garden will further strengthen this partnership by providing a space for
these students to first learn best practices for managing an edible landscape and then
educate their fellow students.
Further UW student involvement will occur during the design phase by working with
Landscape Architecture students from the College of Built Environments, Program on
the Environment capstone students from the College of the Environment as well as
student from the Evans School to further develop and maintain site operations and take
full advantage of the opportunities presented by this space. ~Patrick Mulligan
2. What will be the process for implementing your project? Describe the key
components and steps of your project.
Much of the necessary infrastructure for the garden beds is in a place. Phase 1 would
include: re-fencing the 8 beds farthest from the greenhouse; building a chicken coop
adjacent to the bed gardens; transforming/refurbishing the existing cold-frames into
compost bins; and relocating existing bee hives to a sunnier location more conducive to
good bee health. Storage sheds used by the Puget Sound Bee Keepers Association would
also be relocated during this phase. Additional modifications to remaining beds could be
made at this time according to plan design drawings.
Phase 2 would be the biggest push and involve the removal of existing storage sheds,
selected plantings, and the installation of a large stone patio, fish pond/dry-creek bed,
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and two open-air structures complete with green roofs. Installation of solar panels and
water catchment system would also occur during Phase 2.
Phase 3 would focus on finish work and see the construction/installation of slab benches
and a boundary fence along the perimeter of the garden, the “potting zone”, patios
adjacent to the west side of the greenhouse classroom, bleacher-type seating in key
meeting areas, new storage units, and perennial plant beds around the boundary fence.
The addition of a greenhouse café/refreshment cart is independent of these phases and
could happen at any point funding allowed. I would add, however, that the sooner
funding is available for this the more social atmosphere builds for community gathering
space and plant sales.
3. Which aspects of campus sustainability will your project address, and
why is addressing these sustainability components important? How will
your project benefit the University of Washington campus community as a
whole.
Ecological edible landscaping is a model of sustainability. This would serve as an
educational tool for UW students, an ideal location for volunteerism through such
programs as those offered by the Carlson Leadership Center, an outreach tool for
engaging with the public and a beacon of green living to the greater Seattle community.
As a model of home-scale sustainability, anyone can come and take home some bit of
information directly applicable to their home, neighborhood or community.
By seeing examples of sustainable edible landscaping, alternative energy use, water
conservation, aquatic bio-systems, small-scale animal husbandry (chickens and bees),
natural insect pest control, and green building all on a relatively small piece of land in a
sophisticated but simple and aesthetically pleasing manner, we will inspire future
generations and plant the seeds of a more sustainable society; education and
engagement begin as soon as you arrive through interpretive signage and hands-on
learning opportunities.
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Training in plant propagation techniques, landscape design, community development,
and informal learning would be offered to enhance courses currently being taught
through the College of the Environment, College of Built Environments, Evans School
and the College of Education. New courses for the growing student population
interested in these kinds of topics and workshops for the general public could be offered.
Informally, the Permaculture Perennial Guild Garden will provide a unique nearby offcampus destination for students, faculty and staff to visit for respite from the fast-paced
and often stressful world of a tier 1 research institute such as the UW. In addition, as an
edible display garden, food grown in the garden could be used by Dining Services as they
strive to locally source more of what they offer to the UW student population.
4. Does your project tie into any broader campus sustainability initiatives?
If so, how?
Our project is sovereign but our roots connect us to the UW Urban Farm and Medicinal
Gardens. Additionally we promote alternative energy, water conservation, sustainable
building, and composting, and could serve as a melting pot for the growing diversity of
courses being offered through the College of the Environmental.
5. What quantifiable impacts will your project have? (i.e. kWh of electricity
saved, gallons water saved, tons of carbon emissions avoided, specific area
of land preserved, etc.) How will they be measured after the project has
been implemented?
We aim to reduce both electricity and water costs by use of solar panels and water
catchment systems and can quantify these savings with our monthly utility bills. We
aim to increase the number of student and community volunteers by offering a new
venue for such service to take place and will track these numbers using our existing
framework. We will conduct surveys to count the number of students and community
members who visit the garden for academic as well non-academic purposes. We will
fully document all student projects via our website and various newsletters and aim to
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increase the number of journal articles submitted by students and faculty to relevant
publications. We will also seek to increase our involvement with Seattle Public Schools
by using this garden as an outdoor classroom for fieldtrips and summer camps and will
track these numbers using our existing framework. We aim to increase traffic on our
various social media outlets and elevate our web presence in general as it relates to
green living and sustainability awareness and will track this using appropriate data
collection tools and methods. Lastly, we will track revenue generated through rentals of
and sales made by the proposed café/refreshment cart.
6. How will you measure these impacts after your project is implemented in
order to see if you have met your goal? In addition to the CSF, who will you
report your information to?
Our impacts will be measured by tallying student credit hours earned, volunteer hours
logged, courses and workshops taught, rentals/sales made, “hits” received on our
various social media outlets, articles published and related capstone/research projects
undertaken. These impacts will be reported to the UWBG and our various stakeholders
including the Arboretum Foundation and City of Seattle.
7. How does your project go above and beyond the requirements already
mandated by the University of Washington and/or state law?
This project melds cutting edge design with ancient, human-scale technology. These
vernacular tools and lessons were hard won over thousands of generations and have
been lost in just the last few. But there is a resurgence of these practices and techniques
and we want to be in front of the curve to further establish the UW as a leader in the
field of sustainability. We are positioning ourselves to become a regional hub and
national example of best practices in this field and seek to raise the bar in this realm of
human development and creative education.
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8. Do any aspects of your project require approval from an entity on or off
campus? If so, please list below and explain. (For example, a project which
affects campus grounds or buildings must be approved by the Associate Vice President
for Facilities Services). For each listed entity, please submit a completed “Project
Approval” form.
The WPA is located on city property. Approval from the City of Seattle must therefore
be obtained before moving forward on this.
9. Please identify the project manager(s) as well as the member of the team
(liaison) responsible for reporting project status and success in the
following tables (each project will be expected to report regularly to the CSF
Coordinator with frequency based on the scale of the project).
10. If you are an individual student being sponsored by a campus
department, advisor, or RSO, please explain their involvement and include
their contact information. For each listed entity, please submit a completed “Project
Approval” form
n/a
11. Please be specific about the ways in which you can ensure that your team
will have time available to work on this project. (For example, students
might choose to take fewer classes in order to have time to devote to the
project. Staff might receive permission from a supervisor to devote X hours
per week to the project)
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12. How much of your project will involve students? What roles will
students play in your project? Does your project target involvement of a
certain section of the student body?
Our entire project is about students. Students will maintain, organize, lead, explore, and
manage most elements of this project in the future. With the right structure put in place
in the first gestures of organization, there is ample room for self/ student organization
the rest of the way. Every student is welcome.
13. What is your plan for publicizing your project on campus?
Ideas include the following:

Physical outreach at events to create personal connections with students on
campus.

Social media and web communication with weekly newsletters.

A website and blog, where updates on construction and garden progress can be
posted.

Networking with other relevant student organizations on campus by attending
their events and initiating dialogue through means of social media.
14. What are your specific outreach goals? How will these be measured?
The Permaculture Perennial Guild Garden aims to connect with students from diverse
backgrounds and academic departments. We can account for what department’s
students/ affiliates are visiting from with sign-in sheets. With the capacity to hold
informal and formal community gathering space, work parties, workshops, academic
classes, seminars, community volunteers, K-12 camps, and various planning
committees, we have a great ability to reach a wide audience. At each phase completion
we will provide educational tours to students, classes and departments. Our project is
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relevant to all College of the Environment students, College of Built Environment
students, and Education department. Tours could be informatively tailored to suit the
needs and interests of each party visiting.
Our goals will be measured by level of engagement in social media, attendance to the
gardens verified by sign-in sheets, amount of booking for other parties renting the
space, and sales in the Greenhouse Café.
15. List all budget items for which funding is being requested from the CSF
under the appropriate category. Include cost and total amount for each
item requested. Please be as detailed as possible. (Insert additional rows if
necessary. If you have price quotes from vendors or additional historical budget
information from similar projects that have occurred previously or are on-going, please
submit those with this application.)
16. What is your strategy for supporting the project after this initial period
to cover replacement, operational, and renewal costs?
We plan on the Event Site and Greenhouse café covering all costs necessary for
maintaining the site once all phases are complete.
17. List all non-CSF sources you are pursuing for funding, in-kind
donations, etc. using the table below.
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As prepared by Jeanine Carlson, POE Student 2011
All areas in blue request more detailed info from managing parties.
All areas highlighted to refer to the name of space that is yet to be finalized.
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Sidenote: Patrick, I recommend talking more with Elizabeth Wheat about her Tilapia vision for
the Greenhouse. This is a hot topic in Green Design and could tie in nicely with the “cold water”
outdoor pond. Including this element in request for funding would be awesome. I am not even a
novice in that area and can’t speak to the many remarkable benefits of installing this system, but
it would really complete the picture.
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