Community Gardens
UC San Diego has several campus gardens and one San Diego community garden that promote education and the growth of sustainable food and local produce.
Grow at UCSD
Contact us by email, sustain@ucsd.edu, or on Facebook, Grow @ UCSD.
Join the Garden Discord and reach out to our community! Navigate to each garden's channel to ask questions or to see what each garden is doing.
Composting on Campus
Soon, our waste hauler, EDCO, will start recycling organics, like food scraps, at its new anaerobic digestion facility in Escondido. Until then, campus community members can take their food scraps to these student gardens: Ellie's Garden, Marshall Community Garden, Roger's Urban Farmlab and Warren Grow.
What They Accept
- Fruits and vegetables
- Eggshells and nutshells
- Coffee grounds/filters
- Teabags
- Paper and cardboard (uncoated, cut into small pieces)
- Newspaper (shredded)
- Houseplants
- Hair and fur
- Fireplace ashes (from natural wood only)
- Yard trimmings, including leaves, grass clippings, hay, straw, sawdust, and wood chips
What’s Considered Trash
- Coal or charcoal ash (might contain substances harmful to plants)
- Dairy products and eggs (create odor problems and attract pests)
- Diseased or insect ridden plants (could transfer to other plants)
- Fat, grease, lard and cooking oils
- Meat or fish bones and scraps (could carry pathogens)
- Pet feces or litter (could contain viruses harmful to humans)
- Yard trimmings treated with chemicals
- Brown, bamboo, bagasse paper, bleached paper or PLA products, including plates, napkins, cups, clamshells and utensils
- Candy and gum
Community Art Terrace
Mission
Our mission at the CAT Garden is to incorporate gardening, education and social justice in an outdoor learning environment to develop aware students that understand the connectedness of communal wellbeing, sustainable practices and a sense of environmental responsibility.
Location
Sixth College (NTPLLN), Kaleidoscope, Floor 7
Instagram
@catgardenatsixth
How to Get Involved
Join Sixth College CoBoard! Active members are invited to participate in the garden. GBMs are held Mondays at 7 p.m. Message our instagram or email for more information. Instagram: @sixthcoboard
Contact
catgardensixthcollege@gmail.com, 6coboard@gmail.com
Ellie's Garden
Mission
By creating and maintaining a communal garden in Eleanor Roosevelt College, we strive to share gardening and life-long sustainable practices, involve people in the slow food process and create a greener ERC community. Watch the video.
Location
Eleanor Roosevelt College Victory Plot near Africa Hall and The Farm near Europe Halls (map)
Meetings and Gardening Sessions
Meeting times and gardening sessions change each academic quarter. Visit us online or contact us for current schedule.
Facebook
Ellie’s Garden
Instagram
@elliesgardenerc
Contact
elliesgardenERC@gmail.com
Marshall Community Garden
Mission
As guided by the philosophy of Thurgood Marshall College, to develop the scholar and the citizen, the Community Garden will serve as an opportunity to learn about social responsibility through sustainable living, an outdoor study area and a means to develop a close-knit Marshall community.
Location
Next to Fireside Lounge (map)
Meetings
Meeting times change each academic quarter. Visit us online or contact us for current schedule.
Facebook
Marshall Community Garden
Contact
marshallcommunitygarden70@gmail.com
For fastest response to quick questions, message us at our outreach GroupMe.
Mesa Nueva Garden
Location
East of the Marea Building and north of the Central Mesa Large Playground
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MNCommunityGarden
Contact
Mesa Nueva Central Housing Office, mesanueva@ucsd.edu
Muir Half Moon Meadow
Mission
Muir’s Half Moon Meadow is a community garden that provides a space and the opportunity for students to learn gardening skills, enjoy some plants and grow their own food while also encouraging sustainable life-long practices.
Location
Muir College next to Middle of Muir and the Tamarack Apartments (map)
Meetings
Our meeting time changes every quarter. Contact us for updated schedules.
Instagram
Follow us for regular updates @plants.gardening.
Contact
muirshalfmoonmeadow@gmail.com
Native Garden & Monarch Butterfly Habitat
Ocean View Growing Grounds (OVGG)
Mission
To transform a large privately owned vacant lot in Southeast San Diego into a community garden.
Location
4540 Ocean View Blvd., San Diego (map)
Volunteer Hours
Saturdays, 9–11 a.m.
Facebook
Ocean View Growing Grounds
Contact
ovgrowinggrounds@gmail.com
Roger's Community Garden
Mission
We are a student space and resource for students, staff, faculty and alumni to come together to learn about agriculture, organic gardening and sustainability. We support all student projects and provide land for growing your own food. Watch the video.
Location
Quarter acre south of the Che Cafe and East of the Wagner Dance Studios (map)
Garden Volunteer Hours
Sundays, 10 a.m. to noon
Facebook
Roger's Community Garden at UCSD
Contact
rogerscommunitygarden@gmail.com
SERF Urban Patio
Location
Fourth floor balcony on the south and east sides of Science and Engineering Research Facility
Contact
Angela Berti
News
Galaxy Gardener
Seventh College Garden
Mission
To grow healthy food onsite in order to combat food insecurity and build community in Seventh College.
Location
The Seventh College West, next to the BBQ area
Contact
Grow@UCSD
sustain@ucsd.edu
South Mesa Garden
Location
South of Mesa Housing 9142 South
Contact
Mesa Nueva Central Housing Office, mesanueva@ucsd.edu
Student Center Garden
At the Student Center Garden, everything grown is edible. It is a sustainable garden that offers fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables to students through the Triton Food Pantry. The garden also serves as a quiet place for reflection for visitors.
Contact
University Center Sustainability, ucensustain@ucsd.edu
Location
Patio below the LGBT Resource Center
Warren Grow
Mission
We aim to build a community where students work to create, maintain and explore sustainable food systems through sustainable agriculture.
Location
Between the Student Activity Center and Goldberg Hall
Meetings
Every Wednesday from 6–7 p.m. via Zoom, with link posted on Facebook
Workdays/Volunteer Hours
Due to COVID-19 regulations, please send us a Facebook message or email us to organize volunteering!
Facebook
EarlsGarden2018.ucsd
Email
warrengrow18@gmail.com
UC San Diego's Thousand Tree Initiative
Many counties and municipalities are becoming aware of the importance of healthy and abundant tree canopies. In addition to serving as the most important component in the fight against climate change, trees provide oxygen, food, shade, wildlife habitat and incalculable aesthetic value.
UC San Diego has committed to surveying and maintaining all campus trees. Part of that goal includes planting 1,000 trees on campus over the next three years. UC San Diego Sustainability launched the Thousand Tree Initiative on October 18, 2019 by planting two California Redwoods, Sequoia sempervivens, on the green at Eleanor Roosevelt College. Redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth, standing up to 376 feet high and can live up to 2,000 years. They are California's state tree and provide an excellent, sustainable lumber source.
May 2021 Update
The UC San Diego Thousand Tree Initiative is over half way completed with 530 trees planted within a 20-month timespan. Landscape Services selects the trees from farms or grows them from seed and inspects the trees for health and safety issues.
The planted Torrey Pines are part of the fifth and sixth generation of Torreys grown on campus. Other common trees planted include the Coast Live Oak, Flame Bottle, Silk Floss, Liquidambar and Citrus.
Although the campus has a high Eucalyptus population, few have been planted. The most common Eucalyptus on campus, the Sugar Gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx), has not been planted due to lack of availability at Southern California nurseries and tree farms.
Campus Tree Tours and Plantings
During monthly lunchtime tree tours, campus arborists share how they grow many kinds of trees and how trees make UC San Diego a vibrant place to work and learn. Tree tours have been temporarily suspended and are scheduled to resume in Fall Quarter 2021. For tour details, see Staff Sustainability Network.
2021 Arbor Day Tree Planting
UC San Diego Landscape Services staff planted Flame Bottle trees at the School of Medicine on Friday, April 30 in recognition of Arbor Day 2021 and the campus’s goal to plant 1,000 trees in three years. View photo album
Resources
- Engaging University Students in Local School Gardens: A Toolkit for School Districts, Non-Profit Organizations and Universities
- When Students Lead: The Leadership Development Training Program
- From Seed to Food Security: Integrating Student Agriculture with Basic Needs Security