Connecting Auburn’s Campus: From The Vertical Gardens to The Edge

By: Taylor Edwards  

Auburn, Ala- The Auburn University College of Agriculture is in partnership with Campus Dining to bring students the freshest produce possible while getting them excited about where their food comes from.

This relationship between the College of Agriculture and Campus Dining began a few years ago when Glenn Loughridge, the Director of Campus Dining, brought the two together through the Auburn Aquaponics Project that uses hydroponics and aquaculture technology to use waste from fish as nutrients for plant growth. Vegetables and fish from this particular partnership are served in the dining facilities on campus.

Earlier this year, the college expanded on this partnership and got two Freight Farms containers that they are using to grow plants indoors using advanced technology that includes powerful LED lights and having complete environment control. This unique system allows crops to be from seed to fork in four to six weeks.

The major benefit to these freights is that they can be used anywhere there is access to water and electricity. Having these on campus is helping to create a more sustainable food system and reduces the number of resources that are wasted because they require less water than traditional farming.

Adam Lenhard, a senior majoring in biological and agricultural technology management (BATMAN), works in the Vertical Gardens and shared information on what a typical day working there looks like.

“Every week we put seeds into small peat-moss plugs which will germinate and grow within the seedling area of the freights for 3 weeks. After they are given time to mature a little bit, we transplant those seedlings into the big vertical wall that runs down the rest of the length of the freight.”

With this unique set up, crops are being produced not only horizontally but vertically, saving space and allowing for more plants to be grown in a smaller area. Since the Vertical Farms are providing produce for Campus Dining, it is important to maximize space to turn out the most possible crops.

On average, The Edge provides 3,500 students daily with meals, that is not including faculty and staff, so the Vertical Farms are providing nutrient-rich meals to a large portion of our student body. To keep up with demand, Lenhard explained just how many types of lettuce are being grown and how long that process takes.

“We plant 12 varieties of lettuce and transplant about 120 seedlings of each. After 4 weeks of growth in the vertical channel, we harvest each head of lettuce individually, inspect it for cleanliness and then mix it into a giant bin to be sent to The Edge for all the students to enjoy.”

Once these heads of lettuce reach The Edge, you can find them on display in a refrigerator before they are used for consumption. The refrigerators holding the produce in The Edge were designed to have a glass door so students can see the ingredients that are going into their food and grasp an appreciation for food that is fresh and delivered daily.

By providing students with the opportunity to see and eat fresh products, Auburn’s Dining Services Department hopes to bring food awareness to students and build a preference for fresh produce.

“Getting these students excited about real food that is grown on campus instead of processed foods that are not as nutritional for their bodies is something Campus Dining is striving for,” according to Mr. Loughridge.

Retired Auburn Oaks Spokesperson tells Personal Experience in Saving Auburn Tradition after Trees were Poisoned

By: Kate McIndoo

Auburn, Ala. - In 2007, when Gary Keever, retired professor in the department horticulture, started growing live oaks from seeds, he had no idea how important they would become after the original Auburn Oaks at Toomer’s Corner were poisoned.

The earliest picture Keever found of the oaks at Toomer’s Corner dates to 1937. He recently found a picture behind the counter at Toomer’s Drugs of the celebration following the 1938 Orange Bowl that Auburn won.

“The Toomer’s Oaks are in that picture, and they are very small trees,” said Keever.

Students sat outside the telegraph office, now called Toomer’s Drugs, during away games. Office workers strung white tape across telegraph lines to tell what was happening in the game.

“The very first sign of rolling Toomer’s Corner was in the 1970s and students eventually migrated to the live oaks on the corner,” said Keever.

Sports bring the most attention to the trees, but Auburn Oaks are also a tradition and passion of the Auburn spirit in any important event that affects the student’s lives.

“Alumni stop by the trees during home football games and say they got engaged here at the oaks. It was evident that these trees meant a lot more to the alumni than what I realized,” Keever said.

After Auburn won the national championship in 2010, Harvey Updyke called into The Paul Finebaum Show and said Auburn fans would not be enjoying the trees any longer because he had poisoned them.

“Immediately, a chemical representative met us onsite to take samples and then we sent them to a lab at Mississippi State,” Keever said.

Keever said they got the results back and the trees were positive for the chemical Updyke used.

This herbicide is extremely potent and long lived. He said it could have stayed in the soil for 7 years, if not longer, if not handled correctly.

“This was the go-to herbicide used if you wanted to kill plants. It could have moved anywhere throughout the soil. Questions were even raised about the safety of walking on campus,” Keever said.

After the poisoning, a team of faculty from campus concluded the trees were too far gone to save. They came up with a plan to stop the herbicide from spreading deeper.

“There was a press conference on Samford lawn, and we announced the trees had been poisoned and someone had been arrested,” Keever said.

The poisoned trees died, but the tradition of rolling Toomer’s Corner did not. Before the trees were removed in 2013, the Auburn family rolled them one last time at “The Final Rolling.”

“We threw cases and cases of toilet paper into the crowd. They were rolling the trees, and it was so deep that I got a picture of someone buried in the toilet paper. It was an event for the ages,” said Keever.

After the final rolling of the poisoned oaks at Toomer’s Corner, the university removed the trees.

“It was a very somber mood. All you could hear was equipment running, and there were a lot of people there,” said Heath Hoffman, the Associate Director of the Ag Research/Extension Center.

The President’s office formed a committee to decide the future of Toomer’s Corner. Keever said they surveyed people in the Auburn community and re-planting large trees was the most popular choice.

Two sets of trees have been planted. The first set planted in 2013 did not survive. Those were replaced with the trees standing at Toomer’s Corner today. They were installed by Auburn Horticulture alumni.

Clones from the original oaks are grown and sold at the Paterson Greenhouse Complex on campus where Hoffman works.

“They took cuttings from the rhizomic shoots that formed from the roots after the original trees were removed,” said Hoffman.

The clones preserved the genetics of the original oaks at Toomer’s Corner. Hoffman continues growing the clones and researching ways to improve their growth.

“We were mailing most of them because they were so short, but now when you go look at them, you can’t mail them anymore. There is even an Auburn Oak planted on the Capital grounds,” said Keever.

Demand is still high to purchase Auburn Oaks. Hoffman said you can purchase an Auburn Oak for $125 plus tax. More information can be found using this link https://agriculture.auburn.edu/auburn-oaks/.

“The most fun part to me is getting to meet all the people that buy them. People plant Auburn Oaks in memory of loved ones and call me every year to update me on how their tree is doing,” Hoffman said.

“The personal side is really the fun part because it all links back to Auburn and the feeling of belonging in the Auburn family,” Keever said.

Auburn Agriculture Worldwide

By: Kate Stone

Auburn, Ala. - Be honest- farming is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “agriculture.” Many who are not involved with agriculture think that that is all it is. Waking up, planting crops, dealing with the cattle, and going on with your day out on the countryside.

When I first chose to major in agricultural communications, many of my friends would laugh and say, “Kate, you are from Huntsville, why are you interested in farming?” I would answer back with, “well everyone will always use agricultural resources,” and then we would go about whatever we were doing. Honestly, for a while I thought they were right. It made me wonder things like “Was agriculture just about farming?” and “Had I chosen the wrong major?”, but when I got to Auburn, my perspective on all of agriculture changed.

Agriculture is not just about farming, contrary to popular belief. I had heard of majors such as agribusiness, agricultural economics, and of course, agricultural communications, but honestly that was about it. After starting my degree, I started learning about the forestry program, horticulture, poultry sciences, and other majors that I had never heard about. What else did I not know about Auburn’s agriculture programs?

Agriculture abroad is a program within the agriculture school that allows students to take their knowledge out of our country and to other countries. This opportunity gives students within the college an opportunity to learn more about how others across the world farm and look at agriculture differently. Auburn’s agriculture abroad program has taken students in the past to China, England, Italy, Cuba, Spain, and the Netherlands. The study abroad program is not just offered to one specific major, but to all College of Agriculture majors. Each program offers different hands-on activities for any type of agriculture major.

Auburn’s work has been seen in Haiti within projects dealing with soil management, agroforestry, and productive land use systems. Three hundred and ninety-eight miles away from those projects Auburn’s work is being seen in Cuba within the Agrarian University of Havana, the Pasture and Forage Research Institute, and the World Poultry Foundation. Those are just three out of many other operations that have happened or are happening in Cuba.

Auburn’s College of Agriculture offers many programs to get involved globally -from hosting international visitors to sending students to be hosted. Auburn will provide a way for you to get connected to others globally. All you need is university approval, your passport, a visa/ visa waiver, and the emergency medical assistance program for international travel. Auburn’s agriculture website offers tips on what you need to know, a checklist, and even a way to get scholarship money to travel.

College is already expensive without the added expense of traveling across the world so how are our students paying for these experiences? Auburn offers multiple scholarships and ways you can apply for funding. Through the Hagan Scholars Foundation, the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. and many other scholarships and foundations, Auburn can help you take Auburn agriculture worldwide while you learn about the industry from other cultures.

My answer to my friends has become apparent, although it was a broad major, it was right. Everyone needs agriculture. Many global communities want to learn from us, and we could learn from them. Agriculture is needed everywhere and learning new ways to improve could help yourself and others across the world. With Auburn’s agriculture study abroad programs and the offered resources to help, students have the opportunities to do so.

Ready to start your journey, but have more questions? Check out the links below:

https://agriculture.auburn.edu/students/study-abroad/

https://agriculture.auburn.edu/outreach/global-programs/traveler-resources/