In the culminating course for Sustainability Studies minors at Muhlenberg College in the Spring of 2014, I worked on a semester long research proposal that was used to help install a hydroponic herb garden in the Wood Dining Commons. The attached proposal includes the research process, discussion about how the system will be disseminated and implemented, marketing and educational components of the garden, and explanation of how a hydroponics system benefits Muhlenberg within the context of sustainability.

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HYDROPONIC HERB GARDEN PROJECT
A comprehensive breakdown and analysis of the semester-long research,
methods, and processes involved toward the development of Muhlenberg
College’s first Hydroponic Herb Garden system
By: Nina Sanders
Dr. Niesenbaum
Sustainable Solutions
Spring 2013

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Hydroponic Herb Garden Project
Hydroponic farming is on its way to becoming a viable future for agriculture and farmers
around the world. The future for hydroponic systems appears more positive today than any time
over the last 50 years, becoming increasingly popular especially in the United States, Canada,
Western Europe, and parts of Japan (“Hydroponics Worldwide”). Although the practice has been
around far before the term became coined and more widely used in the 1930’s, today
hydroponics is quickly taking off in the realms of agriculture, urban development, and business.
It is a highly productive, capital intensive method of crop production, technologically sound, and
friendly to the environment. The practice has been praised for its sustainable elements in contrast
to its conventional and organic farming counterparts. But what exactly is Hydroponics, and what
makes it a better, more “sustainable” system compared to open field agriculture (OFA)?
Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants using water and nutrient solutions, rather than soil. In a
hydroponics system, the nutrients that plants normally derive from the soil are dissolved into
water, and depending on the type of hydroponic system used, the plant's roots are suspended in,
flooded with, or sprayed with the nutrient solution (“Hydroponics”). Hydroponics is commonly
used for the production of vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, but it is most
common for leafy vegetables and herbs, which leads us to Muhlenberg College’s interest in
hydroponics. Before the start of the 2013-14 academic year, Head Chef of Culinary Operations
and Sodexo at Muhlenberg College, John Middleton, proposed that the College’s campus
restaurant make use of its own hydroponic herb garden. As part of an ongoing group project for
Dr. Niesenbaum’s Sustainable Solutions course, myself, and team members Emily Paulus and
Katie Bradley have spent the past three months creating, devising, and implementing a proposed
plan for such a system. The following paper will serve as a comprehensive breakdown and
analysis of the semester-long research, methods, dissemination, results, future projections, and
limitations involved toward the development of Muhlenberg College’s first Hydroponic Herb
Garden system.
As part of the initial agenda for Dr. Niesenbaum’s Sustainable Solutions course, our class
devised an inclusive definition for “sustainability,” which was used throughout the semester as a
reference point when trying to assess whether “X” is sustainable or not. Before delving into the
details of research and methods used to make this garden come to fruition, it is important that our
class definition be clearly stated, as the word “sustainability” will be referred to throughout this
paper in reference to the variety of requirements listed below:
‘ “X” is sustainable if: Its goals, principles, and outcomes are designed to meet the needs of
today without compromising our ability to do so in the future. This is best achieved using a
participatory, inclusive process with good governance that ensures:
1. Effective resource and waste management, and environmental protection
2. Economic opportunity and development, and
3. An improved standard of human well-being (education, public health, equitable quality of life,
and social justice.) Sustainability is best assessed through measurable indicators that show
improvement in the above criteria.’

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The importance and benefits of installing a hydroponic herb garden at the Campus
Restaurant are wide-ranging and many-sided. The proposed garden will produce a variety of on-
site grown herbs to be used in Sodexo’s cooking, but it will also offer benefits beyond these self-
sustaining advantages. Such benefits include: an educational component, economic advantages,
both for the students, College, and other stakeholders, and of course, increasing Muhlenberg’s
sustainability factor. What about a hydroponic herb garden at Muhlenberg is sustainable, and
how is a hydroponics system overall a sustainable method? The following factors below list
some of the most prominent, scientifically proven “sustainable” benefits of hydroponics, and
throughout this paper, the benefits hydroponics will bring to the college will be further explored.
Hydroponic Farming Benefits in regards to Sustainability
Less land degradation: Hydroponics farming is “sustainable” in the sense that without the use of
soil, there is no degradation of the land, or soil erosion issues that Open Field Agriculture (OFA)
systems cause. Conventional farms cause runoff in surrounding waterways and impact the
natural environment around the farm. No soil also means no crop rotation or problems associated
with soil quality will occur, such as disease and droughts. With conventional farming practices,
years of farming the same fields with the same strands of commercially produced crops
diminishes soil quality, as well as nutrient level of the produce. Growing plants in soil requires
renewing the dirt and rotating crops between different harvests so this does not happen, but when
growing hydroponically, every essential nutrient is fed to the plants, and natural land is preserved
in the process (Gething, 1985).
Water efficiency: A sustainable hydroponics system can provide a bountiful amount of crops, if
not more than the same yield as organic farming, using less water than it would take to grow
those crops in soil outdoors. Water is recycled throughout the system. There is also less nutrition
waste due to water run-off, which can lead to eutrophication in nearby rivers and waterways
(“Hydroponic Systems”). According to Crop King President Paul Brentlinger, Hydroponic
farming “yields ten times the harvest of broad acre or traditional field farming and the
environmental footprint is much smaller. You do not have to worry about soil degradation,
fertilizer runoff and resulting waterway pollution, you do not have to use as many pesticides in
hydroponic farming, and believe it or not you use less water” (BioWish Technologies)
Land efficiency: Hydroponically grown plants require less land surface since they are grown in a
built greenhouse set up. The plants can be placed in greenhouses that use space in an efficient
way, or plants can be grown in virtually any indoor location wherever there is power to operate
the automated watering and feeding system. Furthermore, the method can be implanted in places
where the soil is not ideal for the desired crop. Hydroponics systems can be used not only in
greenhouses, but in places with limited space such as urban areas and rooftop farming
(“Hydroponics Worldwide”).
Reduced need for pesticides: Because hydroponic greenhouses are much more controlled in
nearly every aspect, from the watering, temperature, to feeding systems, the need for any sort of
pesticide is often eliminated. Hydroponic fertilizers contain the proper amounts of all the
essential micro-nutrients which synthetic fertilizers intended for use with soil do not. Therefore,
hydroponics is not only better for the land, but healthier for the plants (“Hydroponics”).

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Higher Yields: Despite its often high operational costs, the productivity of a hydroponics system
in comparison to open fried agriculture has historically been drastic. Yield data have been
reported that typical yields for crops grown hydroponically in greenhouses are significantly
higher because of the more controlled and optimal growing conditions, nutrient maintenance, as
well as ability for year-round production( BioWish Technologies)
*The following data shown in the table below was taken from an academic article published by Merle H. Jensen on
behalf of the University of Arizona’s School of Agriculture in 1997. It shows the rates of hydroponic versus OFA
tomato crops over an 11 month period in 1966 ("Hydroponics Worldwide: A Technical Overview").
Less frequent occurrence of diseases: The absence of soil, a bacteria growth media, reduces
disease that could spread and cause crop failure.
Reduced transportation: Due to container mobility, hydroponics enables the farmer to grow
crops near the area of use, thus reducing transportation costs and the harmful environmental
effects that come from the automobile and transportation industries (excess Carbon Dioxide
emissions, burning of fossil fuels, global warming, etc.) (“Hydroponic Systems”).
Reduced Energy use: Since water and nutrients have to be pumped to the plants, this requires
energy, and not all of the light used for the plants is going to be natural light. However, not
nearly as much energy is being used in hydroponics as on a conventional farm, considering all of
the equipment needed to harvest and water plants in soil. For instance, the watering system for
hydroponics, although varies depending on the type of hydroponics used, only requires about
10% of the amount of water used on conventional farming. Although greenhouses require
plumbing, are geothermal and propane heated, and use solar power pumped diesel generators, the
energy used still doesn’t amount to that of a conventional farm.

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In addition, the growing medium of rock wool and a perfectly balanced, pH adjusted nutrient
solution allows the plants to uptake food with very little effort. For plants grown in soil, the
roots must seek out the nutrients and extract them. The energy expended by the roots in
conventional farming processes becomes “energy better spent on vegetative growth and fruit and
flower production” in hydroponics (ButterValleyHarvest.com).
Future Possibilities: Because of the advanced technology used for hydroponics, hydroponics
provides more opportunities for research and development. For example, NASA has also looked
to utilize hydroponics in the space program. Ray Wheeler, plant physiologist at Kennedy Space
Center’s Space Life Science Lab, believes that hydroponics will “create advances within space
travel. He terms this as a bioregenerative life support system” (“Hydroponic Systems”)
Less labor intensive/labor costs: Hydroponics does not require tilling, cultivating, fumigation, or
watering, as most advanced hydroponics systems are automated using pumps (BioWish
Technologies)
World Hunger/Social Justice Component: Hydroponics can combat world hunger and provide
food to those developing nations in need; “We can farm in cities, on barren land and we can
potentially put a stop to rising food prices and in turn poverty by creating year-round growing seasons
with high yields” (BioWish Technologies).
Objective/Scope
Hydroponics can be done on a small scale, like on a window sill. Other colleges have
successfully integrated hydroponic systems into their food supply stream, including Swarthmore
College and Goucher College. Muhlenberg and Sodexo identified a need for a hydroponic
system on the campus for the purpose of growing herbs to use in dressings and other recipes used
in the Wood Dining Commons. This paper will outline the planning of this garden, including
information collected during talks with stakeholders on campus, as well as the rationale for the
chosen plant gutters donated by farmer Ryan Ehst that will be purchased and installed. It will
also identify how the project is being implemented, followed by how the garden will be marketed
to current and prospective students, faculty, staff, and members of the Allentown community.
Finally, we outline future mechanisms and indicators to assess the sustainability of the garden,
and how the project can contribute to the overall sustainability goals of the campus community.
Background
An overview of how Hydroponics farming at Butter Valley Harvest operates will help to
better explain how, on a much more condensed level, we plan on implementing the garden at
Muhlenberg. At Butter Valley Harvest, farmer Ryan Ehst extends his business to be involved in
the local economy economy through his stakeholders; the suppliers, distributors, customers, and
everyone in between. CropKing and American Hydroponics are two of the companies that help
provide the necessary technology, nutrients, seeds, and equipment to run a hydroponics system.
Nothing is automated, so it must be checked and calibrated three times a day. The water has to be
measured and tended to constantly by workers in this kind of geothermal system. At Butter
Valley Harvest, the hydroponics system is very self-sustaining, as the entire system is sloped

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slightly downhill to allow for a more closed-loop process of reusing and remixing water and
nutrients. Below are two images taken by Katie Bradley at one of the main greenhouses growing
hydroponic lettuce during October 2013:
On the subject of its stakeholders, Butter Valley Harvest supports these companies, which
are known to serve the economy in ways other than their main source of income that comes from
farmers. For instance, CropKing, located in central Ohio, gives public school tours. Other
distributors include JR Peters Lab, which sends the farm its all natural and organic based
pesticide sprays and nutrients. These companies are constantly developing new ideas and
innovative approaches to hydroponics, which in effect, help the business of hydroponics remain
economically active. Of course, each hydroponics farm is different and its potential to be self-
sustaining and technologically advanced depends on preference, but since virtually every aspect
of hydroponics management can be automated, the opportunities for development are never
ending. In addition to the local community members who frequent the market on the farm, Butter
Valley Harvest customers include several grocery stores, wholesalers, and other mom and pop
stores. One of our hopes for this project is that Muhlenberg College can be inspired by Ryan’s
model of being connected with his stakeholders. We would also like to learn from the areas of
weakness that our class observed during our farm visit, which included the lack of connection to
the sustainability factor of “improving the quality of life and well-being of the community.”
(*see Suggestions for Future Work under the Discussion Heading of this paper)
Of the other colleges have successfully integrated hydroponic systems into their food
system, one example is Swarthmore College, which has a hydroponic window farm. This farm is
made from stacks of plastic bottles, each of which contain a dirt filter and a small plant. Water
runs down the stack until it reaches the bottom, where a pump recycles it back to the top of the
stack (Hopkins). Another example is Goucher College, where students have raised lettuce in a
hydroponic system on campus since 2011. The lettuce is sold to Bon Appétit, Goucher’s
equivalent of Sodexo, and it is served to students in the college's dining halls (“Hydroponics”).

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When we visited Butter Valley Harvest and were able to see how a small hydroponic farm
operated system looked, we were unsure at first of how the system would look in the Campus
Restaurant (specifically if the aesthetics of it would appeal to our stakeholders) so we decided to
look further to see if there was something that would look better and would be easier to maintain.
After looking into building our own versus something pre-made and not being completely
satisfied with what we were finding, I discovered a product called Modern Sprout. It was created
by a couple in Chicago, and originally started as a Kickstarter campaign, but is now a full-
fledged business (“Modern Sprout”). Modern Sprout comes fully assembled, has all of the
components that are needed, is self-contained, and looks like a modern planter box. Although
this idea seemed promising at the time, future issues arose which will be discussed later and
explain why we are no longer using Modern Sprout Planters.
Goals
Originally, our main goal for this project was to have the entire hydroponic garden
installed and fully operating by the end of the Fall 2013 semester. However, this goal ended up
not being attainable in this time frame. Therefore, proposed a new timeline and implementation
plan for our revised goals for this semester, which is detailed below. One main goal is to have a
thorough understanding of the hydroponic herb system functions. We also aim to have a written
plan in place for steps to be taken next semester to finish implementation. Overall, we are
looking to create a self-sustaining process with long-term success that is aesthetically pleasing
(since it will have a prominent place in the Campus Restaurant).
Method
Approach
Unfortunately, given the constricting time frame of the Fall 2013 semester, there was not
enough time to complete this project; however, our group has put in place a plan for how this
project will be carried out in the near future. Specifically, both myself and Katie Bradley will
take on independent studies that will allow us to continue work into the Spring 2014 semester.
We will consult with Dr. Niesenbaum to lay out a specific syllabus or timeline for the following
semester of what we need to complete in order to satisfy the requirements for an independent
study. These independent studies will allow our group to begin testing the gutter system chosen
over Modern Sprout. Also, it would allow for a proper budget proposal to be made, as well as for
additional educational and advertising related projects to educate and inform Muhlenberg
students about hydroponics. We will also investigate how to present this project in a
sustainability related conference that will be held sometime in February 2014 (See Suggestions
for Future Work)

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Stakeholders
Throughout the semester, we arranged a series of meetings with the following stakeholders:
 Kalyna Procyk- Sustainability Coordinator
 Glenn Gerchman- Director of Seegers Union and Campus events
 Jon Middleton- Director of culinary operations/Sodexo
 Jim Bolton- one of the directors of Plant Operations
 Farmer Ryan Ehst from Butter Valley Harvest
Upon a final meeting with Glenn and farmer Ryan two days before our final presentation,
Glenn and Jon decided they wanted to use the gutters like at Butter Valley Harvest, instead of
the Modern Sprout Planters. Farmer Ryan visited our campus and graciously offered to
contribute two hydroponic gutter sections for our project during this meeting. During his visit,
Farmer Ryan also gave input on design and maintenance for the system as well as potential costs.
More research still needs to be done for the design and inner workings of the garden, which will
happen next semester.
Dissemination Plan
As a business major, I intend on writing a formal marketing plan as a key part of the
dissemination of this project. The main developments of this marketing plan will be to:
 Identifying who the main “customers” are and target market to find customers’ needs.
 Evaluate whether we can meet those needs in some way that allows for customer and
stakeholder satisfaction
 Create some sort of formal mission statement/strategy centered on those needs.
The marketing plan will require some market research, as well as looking into other schools
that have successful hydroponic systems. It will be important to establish how we will form
connections to ensure successful delivery of future materials. This means creating a strategy for
supply chain management. In order to pursue advertising, promotional, and public relations
campaigns (which will be in the form of online and visual physical displays) I will also have to
develop a plan. The actual marketing plan will be written primarily for the staff and stakeholders,
who will use the forecasts in my plan to make budgeting decisions, but also for other people- in
admissions, future sustainability interns and marketing interns for Sodexo/other staff responsible
for promotional school wide campaigns.
Other parts of the Dissemination strategy:
 Make sure that when we graduate, the system is still meaningful and of value to
students and staff
 Showcase the garden on admissions tours of the campus- work with admissions
tour guides, for example and inform them on what this is and how to explain it to
perspective students

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 Incorporate the garden into other classes (specifically future Local Sustainability
and Sustainable Solutions classes)- to encourage hands on learning
 Make Use of a new monitor located at the Croutons station that will include a
Powerpoint presentation, pictures, and videos.
Assessment Plan
The assessment strategy for our project is going to have to have an ongoing objective. Following
the construction and set-up of the garden in the Spring of 2014, Katie and myself will:
• Develop a set of protocols for evaluating the health/status of the herbs, seeds,
water, technology, etc. and to determine the factors that will affect their growth
within a sustainable hydroponic system under a controlled environment
• Determine a way to assess the mineral nutrient solution formulations and come up
with a calculated estimate of yield rates, growth, and quality of selected herbs
• Determine student and faculty usage of space and effectiveness of
marketing/dissemination plan
Finding a way to grow herbs as a sustainable rate is key for this project. By sustainable, I
mean that the system should be able to produce herbs and function on a consistent basis time and
again, with both the help of a marketing plan direction, and with a set plan for Sodexo staff to
understand and operate the system. The assessment plan will be further developed in the
independent research done in the spring as well.
Anticipated Impact
Working on this project and the research that we discover through the project will not
only help Sodexo enhance its self-sustaining abilities, but also help Muhlenberg College and the
local community, and serve as an influential signal to future sustainable agriculture
developments on this campus and beyond. Our work on this project will be a marketable selling
point for the school in general, and we also hope to have the system showcased to the public and
visitors as an educational tool. The project will be an interactive, as well as functional display.
Visitors and students will be able to see exactly how hydroponics works, and read about its
sustainable environmental impacts and how Muhlenberg’s hydroponic system is contributing to
sustainability, just as large scale hydroponic farms contribute to the sustainable commercial
development of the farming industry. Our proposed objectives will also seek to meet our class’s
specific sustainability ideals of enhancing the economic, educational, and social justice
opportunities for the community. As an interactive and educational tool for the public, hopefully
we can develop a way to use our system to improve the quality of life for citizens and the
community in the future. The system will also have a research and educational capacity for
future students enrolled in a wide range of disciplines, including Sustainability Studies, Business,
and Environmental Science courses. Hopefully, professors will be able to incorporate the

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hydroponic garden into their course curriculum, whether it is through a horticulture research
capacity, marketing/advertising approach, or something else. We want this system to be of value
to the students and staff in more ways than just through the enjoyment of a home grown
ingredient. We do not want the impacts of the garden limited to Muhlenberg College, and we
will find a way to do this through our own hands on learning experience and dissemination of
research findings.
Implementation Plan
Unfortunately, given the time frame left in the Fall 2013 semester, there is not enough
time to complete this project; however, we put in place a plan for how this project will be carried
out in the near future. Next semester, the components and seeds will be ordered. Construction
will begin after all materials have been received. These materials include: the monitor, electrical
work, seeds, and other items to be identified with farmer Ryan. The monitor and all components
will be installed by OIT, and plant operations will complete required electrical and facade work.
The main steps that need to be taken by myself and Katie together, as we continue doing
independent research on the herb garden in the spring, are as follows. Each of us will be doing
separate research that is stemmed from our own areas of expertise and interest, but these are the
goals that need to be looked at together as a continuation of this semester’s work:
● Obtain all required components- equipment from Ryan, seeds, electricity factors, etc.
● Construction and set-up- decide how to go about construction, who we need to contact,
and when and where this will take place.
● Contact stakeholders- More meetings, emails, and phone calls are required (see
Suggestions for Future Work)
● Install gutters- identify specifics such as which herbs, learn how to operate and monitor
the inner workings of the system- likely a learning process with Ryan
● Figure out when to plant the first set of herbs- also along these lines will be to project a
time period when the planting will be done
● Write out estimates and create a manual monitoring method to track and record progress
of the garden
● Create a calendar of times and dates for Katie and I to agree upon when the above work
should be completed by
● Divide ways among each of us to implement the dissemination plan
● Develop educational outreach and advertising components- perhaps create a webpage and
install signage in the dining hall for additional advertising to educate and inform campus,
as well as work in conjunction with the Office of Community Service and Civic
Engagement to develop a way for students to use the garden to serve the local
community.

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Results
Accomplishments
Throughout the semester, although our group was not able to accomplish what we hoped for
at the beginning of the semester, we did create a solid foundation for future work. We identified
and met with our main stakeholders throughout the semester, which took up a large bulk of the
time. We also obtained two trial Modern Sprout planters, which were funded by Dr.
Niesenbaum. We formulated an implementation plan and set goals for the semester, and were
successful in altering these goals along the way when we came to roadblocks. Our estimated
budget and materials deemed necessary at the beginning of the semester were very useful to have
throughout the process and while meeting with stakeholders, especially the Student Government
meeting that allowed us to secure the $5,000 funds, which are outlined in detail below.
Following our SGA meeting, when Glenn Gerchman informed us that our group had officially
secured these funds for the initial investment of this project, we did not need to do much work
because we had already successfully outlined the steps required to finish the project. Knowing
what our goals were and what was going to be required of us prior to receiving budgeting
approval was very helpful. This will also make it easier while conducting independent research
and needing to outline necessary steps. We will now be able to easily refer back to our clearly
stated dissemination and assessment strategies for all future work.
Specific Budget Details
Money Being Requested from SGA - $5,000
• Breakdown:
• “Gutters” = donated by Ryan Ehst from Butter Valley Harvest
• Pumps = $200.00 for main pumps and backups if one fails
• pH monitor/thermometer = $150.00
• Monitor, box, and hanging hardware = $700.00
• Nutrient formula(s) = $50.00 each per gallon
• Rock wool (for planting seeds) = $7.00 per sheet
• Tubing = $150.00
• 5 gallon or greater containers for water reservoir = donated by Sodexo
• Labor and construction costs = TBD in Spring 2014
• Additional money left in the budget will be used to purchase seeds and
planting materials
Limitations
As for limitations throughout the project, we did face some levels of disagreement among
the stakeholders. For example, all of our stakeholders had approved the idea of using Modern
Sprout, until one week before the final presentation when farmer Ryan came to campus and
offered to donate his gutter system. Also on that note, the time between ordering the Modern
Sprout and its arrival at our college left our group unable to test the planters before the semester
ended. After Ryan’s visit, it appeared clear to us and Glenn that the gutters were the better way

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to go, in order to conserve water and make the system function as a single unit, instead of using
separate planters that would be operated independently from one another. Another limitation we
faced was certainly availability of our stakeholders. We faced much difficulty in getting all of
them together in one ideal meeting, so had to have separate meetings with each of them. In
addition, it was hard to schedule times that worked for my two group members and I.
Unfortunately, due to extracurricular activities and health concerns, I had to miss a few important
stakeholder meetings that I would have liked to have more of a voice in.
Discussion
Upon completion of the semester, our group encountered various strong points, and
despite some of our initial pitfalls, it was the strengths that allowed us to push through and find
continued successes. While our Modern Sprout idea eventually fell through, we looked at this as
one of our strengths of the project. Without having explored this hydroponic design option, we
would not have been able to come to a final decision to use Ryan’s gutters. Our failure, in fact,
became an important event on our path to success, as it gave us the opportunity to work harder
and try again. Another main strength of ours was our ability to effectively communicate our
goals, needs, and layout specific desires for the project to our stakeholders. Our scheduled
meetings were extremely helpful in moving on with the later steps of the project. We were able
to include the opinions and ideas of all of our stakeholders after meeting with them, and
discussing their opinions and finding a common ground amongst one another. In addition, we
were able to balance the costs, logistics and aesthetic desires of the stakeholders, which was
especially a success through the secured funding of $5,000 from Student Government. Finally,
the long-term maintenance plan we established to sustain the herb garden and promote
educational opportunities appears to hold a promising future for the garden that will be explored
through independent research.
Sustainability
Now that it has been discussed how the system will be disseminated and implemented, it is
important to refer back to and clearly state how a hydroponics system will benefit Muhlenberg
College within the context of sustainability. First off, we know the garden provides many
educational opportunities. Professors across the board can use the garden, in addition to those
who already incorporate the Community Garden/Garden House as part of a hands on learning
component of their class. Other ways classes can use the garden include helping with the
ongoing designing, building, and installing the Garden work that will be done through me and
Katie’s independent research. Beyond the spring semester, student volunteers will provide
maintenance as well. There are also the many advertising opportunities that the garden will bring
for the College; perspective students, ability for community members to experience and learn
about the garden, sustainability, and cultivation/how to grow their own food through proposed
student-guided tours of the Dining Hall. Finally, the advertising done directly on campus using
the monitoring screen system in front of the Croutons Station will be a focus of advertising.
Below is a simplified breakdown of ways in which the system will benefit the campus,
Muhlenberg students, and community:

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 Sodexo will enhance its self-sustaining abilities
 Cost effective
 The garden will set a precedent for other future sustainable developments on campus
 The project will be a marketable selling point for the school- it will make the Wood
Dining Commons stand out as it is showcased to the public and visitors
 Educational tool for students, visitors and public- potential to incorporate into outside of
the classroom learning
 Muhlenberg College is taking more steps to reduce its “Carbon Footprint”
 The Independent Research associated with the garden will expand its capacity to educate
and serve the Allentown Community in addition to students
Once the garden is completed, through my independent research, I will develop a method to
assess the utilization of the space. The space will be assessed in relation to how it is used by
students, Sodexo, and faculty. I will also be able to evaluate all aspects of the project using our
course definition of sustainability after the garden has been running in full operation for a
consistent period of time, perhaps one month. A final assessment for sustainability will be to
complete a life-cycle analysis of the project to determine the sustainability of other components
and materials required that need to be sourced from other providers, such as the seeds to grow
the herbs.
*Bottom Line: We want this system to be of value to the students and staff in more ways than
just through the enjoyment of a home grown ingredient. We do not want the impacts of the
garden limited to Muhlenberg College’s food system, and we will do this through our own
hands on learning experience and dissemination of research findings.
Suggestions for Future Work
Once of the main goals for the future of this system, which I plan on exploring through
independent research, is to use the garden as a way to improve Allentown and the surrounding
cities’ economic opportunities. This was one of the main areas of weakness our class observed at
Butter Valley Harvest, so I would like to consider this when working on our school’s garden.
The garden can help serve the community and bring community awareness about gardening,
through getting the school to partner with, support, or sponsor other businesses in the area (non-
profits, schools, hospitals, etc.). Also the College’s Department of Community Service and Civic
Engagement may want to look into setting up a program where students who work on the
Community Garden and Hydroponics garden can travel to local inner city neighborhoods and
areas where fresh produce is not as accessible. Perhaps they can distribute the excess food grown
on this campus to them for free, or sell it at a reduced price to residents, who will also be
informed about what hydroponics is through student interactions, and informational handouts.
After our class visit to Butter Valley harvest, I found myself asking, “How do we
measure whether the farm meets the various psychological, spiritual, and emotional needs of the
families who live in the surrounding community?” This question is difficult to tackle, yet the
farm did offer educational days to schools, and Ryan told us that various church groups, soup
kitchens, and non-profit representatives come to collect large bulks of food that are not fit for

14. Sanders 14
wholesale. However, there was no program instituted by the farm itself to provide such outreach.
As a result, this is a main area of improvement I saw that would benefit Butter Valley Harvest,
and hope to better address in relation to Muhlenberg College’s hydroponic garden. Furthermore,
Butter Valley Harvest’s involvement with improving human well-being, specifically social
justice and education, in addition to economic development, are all areas of sustainability that the
hydroponics farm did not sufficiently meet. Although the farm provides food to primarily local
entities, there is was no way to identify who and which groups of people were getting access to
this food. There are certainly poor, minority neighborhoods in the local area that are lacking an
affordable source of healthy food, so hopefully a strong relationship with the Office of
Community Service can help identify a plan to work with our garden, college, and student
volunteers to do so.
Finally, another set of future endeavors for the garden will be to expanding the
hydroponic system for more than just herbs. Possibilities for other growth include flowers, fruits,
and vegetables. These products could also be used at Sodexo sponsered events on campus. In
addition, seeing that Dr. Niesenbaum already ordered two Modern Sprout systems which have
yet to be activated, a last goal would be to incorporate the planters in other areas on campus
where they can be used by the Sustainability Studies/Environmental Science Departments, such
as in the New Science Building, Moyer, and the Garden House.
Reiteration of current goals for the future of the hydroponic herb garden:
 Me and Katie shall each write written proposals and devise what each of us would like to
do during next semester’s independent research. While each of us will be working
independently, a joint portion of our research should be a collaboration of writing a plan
for future students on how to effectively continue working on the system
 More research to better understand the inner workings of a hydroponic design
 Complete a written budget
 Contact Jon at the beginning of next semester to start working out days/times to construct
and install the garden, as well as consider contacting Plant Ops
 Contact Glenn & Christine at the beginning of next semester to continue more work on
this project after Katie and I finalize what our independent study will consist of with Dr.
Niesenbaum.
 Figure out who is in charge of placing the orders for the parts/materials
 Remember the bottom line of this project and its main purpose while doing future
independent research; to provide fresh herbs in the Wood Dining Commons while
reconnecting students to their food, making the campus more “sustainable” and through
the process seek to educate students and enhance the community through sustainability.

15. Sanders 15
References
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