All about Phipps Edible Garden
Thisis the garden of your dreams, withrich soil in raised beds, each box motheringmounds of herbs, vegetablesand flowers. Keeping company arestripey green tomatoes, skinny polebeans, petunias, a pumpkin patch,hanging gourds, zinnias, corn ashigh as an elephant’s eye. And rice! Thereis a 3-foot-wide vat swimming withshort grain rice. Flowers spilling overthe rims of huge pots and the occasionalsculpture accessorize the garden.Each plant has a label in both Englishand Latin for identification. Ofcourse. Catch a breeze, the garden smellsof rosemary.
“The garden area is planted directly over our event center; with about a foot of soil covering the roof,” says Gabe Tilove, associate director of adult education and community outreach at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. “Phipps is in the city, and we have to make use of every inch of space we have.”
Most of the crops go to the kitchen at Cafe Phipps. Herbs are often snipped for the Botany Hall kitchen. And a good amount of produce is sent over to the Gallery room, a children’s educational play space where children and learn about food options with hands-on exploration. It is also home to Phipps Public Market, a make-believe farmers market where kids can play store and learn about healthy food. Phipps has also developed educational programs focused on growing and cooking healthy foods including a high school intern program and camps and classes for kids.
“Phipps wants to grow as much produce as possible for the cafe,” continues Mr. Tilove. “There is a production garden adjacent to the Edible Garden where larger beds are planted. We also grow vegetables and herbs vertically on the exterior wall of a greenhouse to demonstrate that it can be done, and we have hydroponic produce growing in the greenhouse year-round. “Farmer Mike” Bechtel is our Edible Garden manager. He took a modest vegetable garden and turned it into our vegetable program.”
The gardens are part of the guest experience, and the Edible Garden is accessible to the public from either the Desert Room or the Gallery Room.