Most campus rooftops are pretty barren, but thanks to a project launched last spring by a BU Terrier with a green thumb, tis summer the Warren Towers roof patio was transformed into a small urban oasis: a garden where dozens of different vegetables and herbs flourished. 

The project is the brainchild of Sidney Hare (CAS’22). “I knew that when I went to college I wanted to establish a garden on campus,” Hare says. “ I think that urban gardening is an essential step forward in helping to reduce food deserts, helping mitigate urban heat island effects, and working to greenify cities in a productive manner. Gardening is my passion and I did not want to let living in a city impede me from doing that.”

Hare, who grew up in Utah, inherited her passion for gardening from her aunt. At 16, she was accepted into a farmer training program run by a local nonprofit, where she learned how to farm and how run an agricultural business. She was responsible for farming a tenth of an acre and over the course of two years, raised 1,000 pounds of produce, which she donated to Salt Lake City food banks.

When it came time to look for colleges, Hare knew she wanted to find way to stay involved in gardening. The earth and environmental sciences major, with a concentration in ecosystems, began working with BU Sustainability freshman year to start planning a rooftop garden. Her project moved ahead after she received funding last spring from the BU Urban Climate Initiative’s Campus Climate Lab, which funds research projects that use the BU campus as a living laboratory to advance sustainability practices and support the University’s Climate Action Plan.

Hare and classmate Stella Dzialas (CAS’24) oversaw the design and planting of the rooftop garden with mentorship from Curtis Woodcock, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of earth and environment, Dennis Carlberg, associate vice president for University sustainability, and Lisa Tornatore (CAS’02), BU Sustainability director. Hare says they worked to convert an empty unused space into a “productive and inviting space for students to spend time and see food being grown that they’ll have access to.”

With sustainability in mind, Hare used milk crates to create the garden beds,  a simple and effective way to implement square-foot gardening. The crates are easily maneuverable, self-contained, don’t require building materials and assembly, and are highly productive despite their small size. She and Dzialas planted the garden last spring with a handful of other student volunteers, but the task of watering, feeding, weeding, and harvesting fell to her and Dzialas. 

In this year’s inaugural garden, they grew 10 varieties of tomatoes and 5 different kinds of peppers, as well an assortment of lettuces and other greens, root vegetables, and brassicas. During October, the group harvested the last of this year’s crops. They worked with Warren Towers resident assistants to alert student residents that there was free fresh produce, which was quickly scooped up. 

When Hare graduates, she’ll pass leadership of the garden over to Dzialas, who says she’s excited about continuing the project. “This is especially important on a campus as urban as BU,” Dzialas says. “I care a lot about food security, and I am excited to establish a program that will give produce back to the community in the coming years.”

As for Hare, she has already found a way to turn her horticultural know-how into a career. Last spring she began interning with Recover Green Roofs in Somerville, a company that designs, builds, and maintains sustainable roofs. She was part of the its horticultural maintenance team. She’s been working part-time this fall, and in the spring, after a trip to Spain, she’ll be working for the company full-time as a horticultural specialist, helping to maintain the green roofs they build.