Sinclair Community College has provided a piece of undeveloped land to the Green Machine, which the club plans to use as a campus garden as soon as this spring.
“It’ll let us grow food, which we can then give back to the community,” Jayne O’Zenko, vice president of the Green Machine Club, said.
Located off of Edwin C. Moses Boulevard next to the Dayton Cultural and RTA Transit Center, the land is currently used as a storage space for the city of Dayton. Although it’s not directly located on campus, the area is a part of Sinclair’s ongoing master plan.
“We plan on seeding as soon as this spring,” O’Zenko said. “Primarily vegetables, peppers, tomatoes, rosemary, mint, eventually lettuce or cabbage.”
Two-thirds of the plot is reserved for the Green Machine, with the remaining third reserved for Sinclair’s Culinary Arts program, which will also grow produce on the property.
“We plan to donate a lot of what we grow on our two-thirds to local food banks,” O’Zenko said. “Maybe eventually we can even provide some of what we grow to Sinclair and to the students.”
The Green Machine has already begun composting on campus, but according to O’Zenko, the garden provides a great location to continue the project.
“We’d like to eventually have industrial sized spinning composters, and we’re going to take the scraps from the Sinclair marketplace, which is already happening,” she said.
The leftover waste from Sinclair’s marketplace will eventually help provide the nutrient-rich soil needed to grow produce, which, according to O’Zenko, helps Sinclair while also supporting the club’s goal of sustainability.
“What we really need is manpower,” O’Zenko said. “We need people who are interested in growing food, who are interested in building things, even if they have no experience, anyone is welcome.”
O’Zenko said anyone who wants to help can do so by getting involved in the Green Machine. The club will have a large presence and more information on the garden available at the Earth Day celebration, which takes place on campus April 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the basement of Building 8.
“We want people to drive by the garden and look and see that the space is being used. We want to promote Sinclair’s commitment to sustainability, because there is a presence of sustainability here on campus, but it’s underdeveloped and there’s a lot of room growth,” O’Zenko said. “This is definitely part of that growing process.”
For more information on the Green Machine or on the future campus garden, contact club advisor Robert Gilbert at Robert.gilbert@my.sinclair.edu, or Jayne O’Zenko at Jayne.ozenko@my.sinclair.edu.