The Organic Garden at FIU is located between the Nature Preserve and the baseball field on the southwest side of the University Park campus. All FIU students, faculty and staff are welcome to grow produce for their own consumption and participate in educational workshops, garden workdays, and monthly potlucks. Production is all organic; no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers are used. Soil fertili
ty is maintained through crop rotation, cover crops, mulching, and additions of compost and other soil amendments. Pest control is achieved through hand weeding, mulching, companion planting, beneficial insects, and occasional use of neem oil or other approved compounds. The garden is composed of various raised vegetable and herb beds, as well as a shade house, keyhole gardens, meditation plot, fruit orchard, biofuels demonstration plot, and composting area. Ongoing and upcoming projects include composting and vermiculture (food scraps from campus dining), hydroponics, aquaponics, rain water catchment, drip-irrigation system...
We grow a variety of perennials (mango, avocado, papaya, passion fruit, guava, berries, carambola, cranberry hibiscus). Our annuals have included tomatoes, salad greens, kale, collards, broccoli, cauliflower, onions, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, peppers, beans, and many culinary and medicinal herbs. We also have a variety of pollinator-attracting flowering plants. If you have any rare seeds, cuttings, or plants to share (especially native varieties), we would be glad to give them a happy home at the FIU Organic Garden.
