St. Mary's Garden Club

Time: Fridays from 4:00 to 6:00pm (Subject to Change)

Location: The St. Marys Garden Club regularly meets in the St. Marys Garden located on the east side of St. Marys Language House, across from the ambulance entrance to the University Health Center. If the weather is inclement, then the St. Marys Garden Club meets inside the basement of St. Marys accessible through the back (terrace level) entrance door.

About St. Mary's Garden: The St. Mary's Garden, run by the St. Marys Garden Club, is the original on-campus urban garden, sanctioned by Landscape Architecture Services in Spring, 2006. It features many varied ethnic and cultural plants, shrubs,vegetables and flowers, and as such, is the Cultural and Ethnic Horticultural Garden on the University of Maryland campus. St. Marys Garden utilizes principles of sustainable farming including seeper barrel irrigation and composting. With a brand new double sided compost bin as the heart of its composting program, the St. Marys Garden Club collects compost from the 10 Language clusters (20 apartments) of St. Marys dorm, and through this unique program -the only one of its kind on campus- teaches principles of composting and utilizes the collected compost for use in the St. Marys Garden.

Purpose: The goals of the St. Mary's Language House Garden Club are 1) to enhance and support the activities of the St. Mary's Language House, 2) to provide a gardening and horticultural experience to the staff, students and University of Maryland community, and 3) to provide for the aesthetic enjoyment for the larger UMD community, including campus visitors and guests, within the educational context of the newly designated National Arboretum and Botanical Garden of the University of Maryland, College Park.

Contact: Kim Cullen

Note about Location: In case of inclement weather we meet in the Multipurpose room around the back of St. Marys dorm. We spend as much time in the garden observing, doing, learning and participating as much as possible. Members are allowed, and strongly encouraged to devote as much outside time and effort as they wish.

St. Marys Garden- the Ethnic and Cultural Horticulture Garden
I. Ethnic and Cultural Plants in the St. Marys Garden
A. Purslane - Portulaca Oleracea- a succulent with tiny yellow flowers, purslane is rich in vitamins, and is used as a leaf vegetable throughout Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Mexico.It can be used as a leaf vegetable in a salad, stir fried, or in soups.
B. Borage - Borago Officinalis - an herbal plant originating in Syria and found all throughout the Mediterranean, borage is mostly used as a source of oil seed for gamma linolenic acid. With a slight cucumber like taste, borage can be used as leaf vegetable in Italian pasta dishes or in the German soup Green Sauce.
C. Hyacinth Bean Vine - Lablab purpureus. The hyacint bean vine is widespread as a food crop throughout the tropics, especially in Africa, India and Indonesia. In vietnam it is the basis of the dish chè dâu ván.
D. Sage - Salvia officinalis (common sage), a small evergreen shrub used as a culinary herb.
E. Lemon Thyme - Thymus citriodorus. The herb is a bsic ingredient in Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian, Jordanian, Israeli, Libyan, Indian, Italian, French, Albanian, Persian, Portuguese, Assyrian, Spanish, Greek, Nigerian, Caribbean, and Turkish cuisines, and in those derived from them
II. Ethnic and Cultural uses of Plants in the St, Marys Garden
A. Mint Leaves - present in all Israeli homes.
B. Hyacinth Bean vine - in the Chinese culture, the beans are picked and cooked in a stir fry.

More information: We encourage individual gardening efforts within a collaborative group setting, from novice/beginner, to intermediate levels of experience, to higher levels of gardening experience. On the micro level, the St. Mary's Garden Club practices organic, sustainable gardening in its own Garden, located on the east side of St. Marys dorm across from the ambulance entrance to the Health Center. It consists of a Main garden, a Side garden, and a composting bin for community composting. The St. Marys Garden Club composts for the St. Marys Language House consisting of 10 clusters-20 apartments. Three times a year, the St. Marys Garden Club plants and harvests: once in the spring, once in the summer, and once in the Fall.
On the macro levels, the Garden Club schedules field trips to horticulturally related such as the Research Green House Complex, and takes part in the semesterly Tree Walk, sponsored by Landscape Architecture Services, on campus.

Links:      

PhotoBucket Account

Green Links:
http://www.sustainability.umd.edu/
http://www.arboretum.umd.edu/
http://www.naturalhealth-solutions.net/healthy-eating/powerhouse-of-nutrition-purslane
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powdery_mildew
http://gardenhobbies.com/plantproblems/powderymildew.html

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