With garden, PCC grows closer to sustainability

Possibly mistakable for a typical decorative plant island on campus, the new sustainability garden in the quad is actually a symbol of the permaculture revolution.Thriving in this garden are both edible and medicinal plants that harmoniously burgeon together in a self-sustaining cycle.

According to Caitlin Bergman, a permaculture designer, consultant and educator for the Los Angeles Arboretum, the sustainability garden is untainted by chemical pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides.

During its creation the garden's subterranean soil was infused with a natural compost pile that included cardboard and dead leaf clippings.

"This compost is naturally breaking down and feeding the plants, making the soil healthy with worms and good bacteria," said Bergman.

The garden is home to a unique variety of plants.

The Ceanothus plant is one of the most special in the garden, according to Bergman, because it fixes nitrogen and bacteria into the soil allowing the plant to create nitrogen from the sun.

"It also creates beautiful purple flowers that attract bees to pollinate the fruit trees," she said.

The sustainability garden has two Earth guava trees, known as pineapple guavas, that have an electric pineapple fruit flavor, along with edible "soft pink petals that taste really good," said Bergman.

Also on the sustainability island is the Myrtus communis plant, which has tasty purple berries and can be used medicinally.

There are also onions, columbines and Lupis perennis: the flora of the garden that fix nitrogen into the soil.

There are many plants in the garden, such as the Grivellea plants, that attract pollinators for whom, according to Bergman, "it is very hard to find food."

Organizers said the garden, planted in late January, was a project coordinated to inspire and inform the campus community about the current ecological movement in permaculture.

"In Pasadena alone, 70 percent of drinking water is used to water plants," said Natural Sciences Professor Ling O'Connor, leader of the sustainability garden project.

California's water supply, O'Connor said, is "at a warning level."

"PCC spends over $237,000 a year on water," said Brett Shears, president of campus environmental awareness club Seeds of Change, another participant in the project. By having gardens installed that can naturally sustain themselves, less water is required to be wasted, he said.

"In addition to requiring less water, the permaculture garden also functions better in the environment as a whole, as is the nature of permaculture," said Shears. "Permaculture is also self-sustaining and does not require the labor-intensive maintenance that a large patch of grass would."

According to Bergman around 50 people participated in the installation of the sustainability garden, with the help of student and faculty fundraising.

Bergman sees the garden as a symbol for the PCC community to see that there are people on campus who are pushing towards creating ecologically friendly and sustainable, water-saving lawns.

"It is extremely exciting that the students are so passionate about moving forward with the sustainability movement," said Bergman, "and with what some solutions might be for PCC to move in that direction, and to have more gardens all around the campus.