Afro House breaks ground on student-led community garden

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April 11, 2021
Aluna-Aro Olaniyi (left) and Cherish Cornett (right) discuss how to lay out the boards for the design of the boxes on Sunday, Ap

Aluna-Aro Olaniyi finally brought her vision for a community garden to life on Sunday afternoon at the Afro House, hand building its foundation by gluing together plywood with a group of friends.

The community garden will be placed in the backyard of the University of Iowa’s Afro-American Cultural Center, known as the Afro House, with various plants and vegetables to be planted and harvested throughout the summer and fall seasons.

Some of the edible crops planted will include corn, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes. The garden will also feature different flower species and special herbs that are meant to repel insects and other pests. The student organizers decided to go without a fence to allow public access.

Olaniyi, who is a third-year student at the UI studying environmental science, said she originally planned this project in hopes of promoting a sense of community building and environmentalism on campus.

Olaniyi said she specifically hopes that the garden will help provide a safe space for students at the UI who are underrepresented.

“I think that there’s a really important connection between Black identity and a connection with nature,” Olaniyi said. “I really wanted to build a space for students to feel, build, and reintroduce themselves to that connection.”

To learn more about the garden installation, visit the Daily Iowan.