It’s Easy Being Green

Not far from Husky Stadium is one of the UW’s best-kept secrets — the UW Farm at the Center for Urban Horticulture. This verdant oasis, where students and community members work the land year-round, is one of three growing sites for the UW Farm, which produces fresh certified-organic produce for campus dining, the UW Food Pantry and the community.

The farm’s impact goes far beyond the sun-ripened tomatoes that make their way into countless community-supported agriculture (CSA) boxes. Each year, thousands of Huskies get their hands dirty at the urban farm’s three sites: the sprawling 1.5 acres near Union Bay Preserve, a rooftop garden at McMahon Hall and an urban farm site between the seven-story buildings of Mercer Court Apartments.

The Center for Urban Horticulture UW Farm site is built on land that was an active landfill until 1966. Significant remediation and restoration work prepared the area to become what it is today. Researchers from the College of the Environment have studied how the UW Farm’s regenerative practices, such as growing cover crops and using natural compost, have contributed to the soil health.

Each year, some 1,200 to 1,500 Huskies find their way to the UW Farm through classes, service-learning programs, research projects and clubs. Students are at the heart of the organic farm, which began as a registered student organization in 2006, and gain hands-on insights from tilling the soil, planting crops and harvesting produce.

The farm generates 13.8 tons of produce annually for campus dining, the Husky Food Pantry and the CSA program. In the summer and fall, CSA members receive a weekly box of seasonal vegetables and fruit grown and harvested at the farm. Learn how to become a CSA member.

Since 2018, Indigenous students at the UW like Sarai Mayer (Washoe) have been able to connect with traditional farming practices and foodways at the farm’s Native Garden, a space that has been cultivated in partnership with wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House. Here, they’re able to grow a variety of foods and plants, including several types of corn, squash, beans, wapato, amaranth and ceremonial tobacco. The land now occupied by the farm is culturally significant for Coast Salish peoples. Read more about the Native Garden.