News

TUSP Medicinal Garden Groundbreaking

5/12/11

The TUHS Medicinal Garden Alliance is proud to announce we have started groundbreaking for installation of the edible and medicinal community garden on the corner of Broad and Venango. All students are invited to participate as we prepare the ground for laying topsoil, install raised beds, construct retaining wall garden beds, and begin planting trees.

Our group has a public Google Calendar on which all current participants are able to coordinate their time within the garden. Please take a look to find a time to stop by and lend a hand, or meet the members of our team!

Additionally, if you are interested in donating a plant (or tree) to the garden, please see the list of plants and prices [pdf ]. Also be on the lookout for students with plant lists or purchase sheets posted around the pharmacy and medical buildings.

If you would like more info, please contact me at Lramoz@gmail.com.

Leda Ramoz, a 2014 TUSP student, addresses the Alumni Association about the Medicinal Garden she is helping to coordinate.

As an integral component of the Northern Philadelphia community, it is vital that Temple University communicates caring and fellowship to the surrounding neighborhood. As students and health care providers we feel the planting of a medicinal and edible learning garden will promote health and wellness in the neighborhood. This garden will not only provide direct access to fresh food but also act as a tool to educate student health professionals about the roots of modern medicine. Additionally, through collaboration with professors in the School of Pharmacy, specifically Dr. Lebo and Dr. Baumgardner, we also plan to create a community outreach curriculum focused on bridging the gap between nature and pharmaceutical, household and personal products.

Groundbreaking the site of the new medicinal garden.

Students and workers collaborate on constructing the garden.

The medicinal and edible learning garden is located on the corner of N Broad Street and W. Venango Street, on the northeast lot of the new Medical Educational and Research building (MERB). Plans for the construction of the garden are currently being implemented. Two ginkgo trees will flank the main entrance of the garden, facing the north doors of MERB. Two large elongated U-shaped beds will extend ten feet past the ginkgo tree beds to form an elliptical pattern with a path, another tree bed, and two benches within the interior. Each of the U-beds will be 4 feet in width, which will contain both medicinal and edible plants. These beds will be constructed out of garden wall pavers to a height of two feet. The entire outside circumference of the beds comprises 41-feet long by 31-feet wide. Directly beyond the elongated beds along the perimeter of the garden we will install two cherry tomato beds along the wrought iron fence. Growing the tomatoes in this fashion will allow free healthful food access to the community at all times.

A rock signed by students and builders who worked on the garden.

This garden could not exist without the outpouring of support from the University and local student groups, especially those from the schools of medicine and pharmacy. In the future, the garden will provide multiple opportunities for students at the Temple University Health Sciences Campus to promote health and wellness and to convey a message of caring and brotherhood to the Northern Philadelphia community. The medicinal and edible learning garden will be continually maintained through the activity of the new student group, the TUHS Medicinal Garden Alliance. Formation of this new student group and coordination of this project is being lead by local PY2 student pharmacist and Phi Delta Chi member, Leda Ramoz. Anyone interested in supporting this project, either by donating a tree, medicinal plant, contributing towards a commemorative plaque, or volunteering their time can contact Leda Ramoz at Lramoz@gmail.com for more information.

Scheduled garden work days are available for public view on the Google Calendar. Our progress may be viewed on flickr. Plans and early photos are available in a presentation [.ppt], including the plant list above. The School of Medicine has published an article about the garden.