OU’s Campus Student Organic Farm dedicates new hoophouse, dubbed the ‘Salad Place’

The Campus Student Organic Farm (CSOF) recently dedicated their newest hoophouse, known as the Salad Palace, with a ribbon-cutting by representatives of key stakeholders. This hoophouse, the latest addition to the farm, was funded by Oakland University Student Congress (OUSC) and was built earlier in the summer, in part by students. 

Dr. Fay Hansen, founder and director of the campus farm, gave opening remarks with praise for the role that OUSC has had in supporting the mission of the farm over the years through funding several key needs for its operations. 

“These contributions have been game-changers for us, as the CSOF does not receive funding from the university and is entirely dependent on donations and revenues from produce sales,” said Hansen.

 In past years OUSC has funded a new produce cooler, a large storage shed and a raised bed system for an earlier hoophouse expansion project, along with other smaller pieces of equipment.  One year, Hansen noted, the Growing Grizzlies (then the Student Organic Farmers at OU) was given an OUSC award for the “most interesting purchases.” 

Hansen explained that hoophouses are essential in both the farm’s produce distribution and its educational mission because they extend the growing season and provide protection for crops and farming activities during inclement weather all year round. With the cold, rainy season this spring and summer the hoophouse was invaluable.

According to Hansen, the new hoophouse has been designated as the “Salad Palace” because its primary function is to grow produce that is the most “student-friendly” and most useful for the farm’s Grizz Greens program, in which produce is donated to the Golden Grizzlies Pantry.

“We find that students are less able to use many of the types of produce we use as educational crops for our classes and those for general non-student customers who typically have more useful storage and cooking facilities than students,” Hansen said. “Thus, we focus on leafy greens and ‘finger foods’ like peas, beans, tomatoes, etc.”

As part of this emphasis, the farm introduced “walking salads” for its fall farmstand and continues to provide them to the pantry while produce is still available this fall. 

A special guest at the ribbon-cutting ceremony was retired anthropologist, Dr. Richard Stamps, who taught at OU for 37 years. Stamps has followed the anthropology and archeology behind the historical structures and land use of the OU campus for his entire career.  He remarked on the significance of the CSOF operations over the years in terms of extending the agricultural heritage of the campus. 

He noted that the farmsite, located at the corner of Adams Rd and Butler Rd, had previously been used as a large poultry farm when the Dodge family owned it and had been part of their very large agricultural operation that both fed and employed many members of the community. The large chicken coops had actually been used as OU’s first classrooms when the campus was founded and were subsequently used for the Lowry Childcare Center for many years. The CSOF was founded by students in 2009 and began offering academic programs in Biology with classes starting in 2010. It has continued to expand its farming operations, as well as academic offerings and community outreach to the current large interdisciplinary program that engages so many students and members of the community today. 

“It has come full -circle in linking agriculture, community, and education,” said Stamps.

Hansen added: “This is something our founder, Matilda Dodge Wilson, would have loved.”

To learn more about Oakland University’s Campus Student Organic Farm, visit drordi.com/biology/organic-farm.