About

Who we are:

Wild Roots Garden was founded at Northwestern University in the fall of 2009 through a collaboration between the One Book One Northwestern project, three undergraduate environmental student organizations (SEED, ECO, and ESW), Facilities Management, the graduate student garden, and Norris University Center.   Today, Wild Roots is managed by undergraduate students in (grateful) collaboration with Facilities Management.  Our fresh produce is harvested and donated to the chefs in our dining halls; we dry herbs and tea to sell to students, faculty, and staff during the school year.  We are located on the south lawn of Norris University Center (outside of Norbucks).  Come visit us!

Our mission:

Our mission is to connect students to the earth and each other, to serve the evolving educational and social needs of the Northwestern community, and to inspire students to think critically about the food we eat by starting conversations about sustainability, social justice, and our food system.  We live our mission by growing fresh produce for the Northwestern and Evanston communities using sustainable practices and by using the garden as an educational tool to empower students to produce their own food, to creatively solve ecological problems, and to share their knowledge with others.  Wild Roots Garden provides a space for students to connect to the land and to each other through workdays, events, and other programming and through the creation of a community of garden stewards.

Our stats:

In our first growing season, our garden was 500 square feet and produced over 250 pounds of fresh produce.  We are currently in our second growing season: our garden is around 600 square feet this year and we have plans to double the size of our growing space for next year.