COMMUNITY GARDENS PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, SERVICE LEARNING, AND STUDENT LEARNING

The Indiana State University (ISU) Community Garden was initially created in 2008 with ~30 different gardeners. Since that time, the garden has expanded significantly and today houses over 150 plots that are cared for by over 125 local gardeners. The garden is located on a city block that was once residential property at the eastern edge of the ISU campus. Today the only remaining house serves as the ISU Institute for Community Sustainability (ICS). The ICS office space includes a deck that doubles as an outdoor classroom, a teaching kitchen that is available for canning, and offers many different outreach opportunities throughout the year. In 2012, high soil lead concentrations were discovered in several plots within the garden. These plots are no longer available for gardening, and soil lead concentrations have been monitored since this discovery, which is particularly important as the garden continues to expand to meet the needs of local gardeners. Beginning in Fall 2016, the introductory environmental science laboratory (ENVI110L) students started collecting soil lead data at this site to learn about local environmental issues and gain hands-on experience with the scientific method, from proposing a hypothesis, developing a research project, collecting field samples, analyzing those samples using a pXRF, and interpreting data. Collectively, the 800+ students who participate in ENVI110L every semester sample every single plot and evaluate soil NPK, color, texture, and metal concentrations, with a focus on lead. This data is then used to evaluate how lead varies across the garden and ultimately will help us to better understand the impacts of different gardening practices (i.e. tilling, mulching, and/or the use of compost) on lead concentrations. We were unable to produce a krigged map of lead concentrations for the garden in Fall 2016 because of irregularities in the sample ids and gaps in the data, but after refining our approach, krigged maps of lead variability for Spring 2017 were created and shared to increase awareness of soil lead concerns in the community and to highlight the importance of safe urban gardening methods.