Campus Learning Garden

Campus Learning Garden

Envisioned and created by GMercyU Public Health students

GMercyU's picturesque, 145-acre campus is the perfect home for a garden. Thanks to the first graduating class of the Public Health program — as well as seed funding from the Montgomery County Health Alliance and donors Richard and Kathleen Target '70 — a large garden of fruit, vegetables, herbs, and pollinating flowers sits in a sunny stretch of earth next to Valie Genuardi Hall.

Public Health students, both undergraduate and graduate, helped construct the first of the garden's raised beds in spring 2023 and planted several hardy varieties to get the garden started. New fencing and netting was added that fall to protect the garden from campus wildlife, particularly our campus deer.

"The first graduating cohort of the Public Health program, the Class of 2023, proposed the Campus Learning Garden as a space for students to practice public health while addressing physical health, mental health, and food insecurity," said Public Health Program Director Sharla Willis, DrPH, CHES.

Produce from the garden is harvested by students and goes to Catherine's Cupboard, offering fresh food options in addition to the canned and boxed goods on its shelves.


New Additionscampus learning garden

In spring 2024, students from across the University, particularly those in the GMercyU Service class, worked with Dr. Willis to expand the garden with more raised beds.

The garden currently includes more than 600 square feet of beds full of berries, watermelon, garlic, carrots, radishes, squash, herbs, and more. There are also more than 230 square feet of garden beds full of native plants to attract pollinators thanks to the generous donation of plants and design skills of Jonathan Nuss, owner of David Brothers Nursery. Benches and a picnic table provide space for lunch, classes, or events.

In summer 2024, an herb garden was planted, funded through a grant from the Pennsylvania Heartland Herb Society submitted by Public Health major Chelsea Golin ’24.

"The goal is for the GMercyU community to see the garden a space where they can come to rest, tend the garden, or harvest for Catherine’s Cupboard. The garden is for our GMercyU community to enjoy, so people should feel free to taste what’s growing," said Dr. Willis.

Anyone in the GMercyU community interested in learning more about the garden or working in the garden may join the Campus Learning Garden Resource in Canvas.

Learn more about GMercyU's Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Online Master of Public Health.

Irrigating the Gardencistern

A new cistern was constructed adjacent to the garden, completed in spring 2024. The cistern will collect rainwater from the roof of Valie Genuardi Hall and be used to irrigate the garden.

In past years, GMercyU's Mercy Focus on Haiti has raised funds to purchase cisterns to provide clean water for the people of Gros Morne, Haiti. 

The new GMercyU cistern brings Haiti to our campus, helping our community visualize the work and the need for potable water. 

Social Work majors and other students, faculty, and staff assisted with the build of the cistern under the direction of Structural Engineer Johann Zimmermann of JZ Engineering. 

JZ Engineering specializes in projects for underserved and marginalized communities. In 2020, Zimmermann traveled to Haiti to train 18 masons in cistern building through Mercy Focus on Haiti. 

Interested in volunteering at the Campus Learning Garden? Contact Dr. Sharla Willis at willis.s@gmercyu.edu. 
Help us reach our Mercy Focus on Haiti fundraising goals for the cistern! We are gratefully accepting donations here.