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Pocket Urban Farms at MUSC

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Our Mission

Provide opportunities to heal through nature by developing and maintaining innovative green spaces where people can gather to learn about the connection between food and health through hands-on experiences and purposeful programming.

The original MUSC Urban Farm at 41 Bee Street has permanently closed to make way for the new College of Medicine building.

We are in the process of opening up several Pocket Urban Farms. Pocket Urban Farms are smaller areas around our main campus providing opportunities for students, faculty, staff, patients and the community to experience many of the programs developed by the original Urban Farm.

Please email us at urbanfarm@musc.edu with questions.

Pocket Urban Farm Activities & Tours

We host seasonal educational programs on a range of topics from organic gardening to healthy food and nutrition. The MUSC Pocket Urban Farm team is available to host private group tasting tours, corporate programs, and departmental activities at one of our Pocket Urban Farms Urban Farms or at your location.

MUSC's main campus became an Arboretum in 2012 through Tree Campus USA. We offer campus wide educational tree tours catered to your group’s needs. Visit MUSC Arboretum website for more information. Email us at urbanfarm@musc.edu to learn more details.

MUSC Pocket Urban Farm Locations & Descriptions

James W Cobert Library is located on the west-facing portico of the building. It includes gathering places for volunteer opportunities, classes and horticulture therapy sessions for students, faculty, staff, patients and community members. This pocket urban farm is adjacent to the Porcher Medicinal Garden and is open to the public.

MUSC Wellness Center Pollinator Pocket Urban Farm is located at the intersection of Bee and Bravo streets and is open to the public.

Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital Pocket Urban Farm is located at the 7th floor Boeing Dream Center Atrium. It includes raised planters horticultural therapy for patients, family members and staff.

Ashley River Tower Pocket Urban Farm is located on the 2nd floor mezzanine. This location is focused primarily on horticultural therapy for staff.

Institute of Psychiatry Pocket Urban Farm is located in a confined garden space. This pocket farm is for patient and staff use only.

STAR Pocket Urban Farm is located in N. Charleston in a confined garden space and is for patient and staff use only.

Horticultural Therapy at MUSC Urban Pocket Farms

We use our green spaces to provide horticulture therapy to several populations each week. This garden-based therapy provides participants an opportunity to experience nature and use gardening to improve mental and physical help. Email us at urbanfarm@musc.edu to learn more details.

Pollinators & Our Observation Bee Hive

“One in three bites of our food requires pollination, and honeybees are amazing pollinators. But bees are declining in population because of colony collapse disorder. The bees are like the canary in the coal mine, and they are dying off.”

Tami Enright, Executive Director of The Bee Cause Project and Master Beekeeper

Pollinators

Pollinators are critical to a healthy ecosystem to aid in pollination and serve as a critical link in the food chain. Pollinators such as bees, butterflies, wasps, bats, and birds are incredibly important to the urban ecosystem in Charleston. The Urban Farm strives to provide a safe habitat for pollinators to get food, water, and shelter. We have partnered with a number of organizations to certify and maintain the farm as a critical refuge for pollinators to visit and thrive at the Urban Farm. MUSC is a certified Bee Campus and Monarch Waystation.

Bees

Beekeepers started noticing the disappearance of bees in 2006. They call it Colony Collapse Disorder because the bees were abandoning their hives in mass numbers and never return.

Reasons they're declining:

  • They are losing their food sources due to the cultivation of land.
  • Their genes don’t allow them to fight diseases and poisons very well.
  • Global warming is causing flowers to bloom earlier or later and this can no longer coincide with the bees coming out of hibernation.

The Urban Farm has an observation beehive donated by The Bee Cause Project to support our mission of building a healthier community by inspiring people with local, nutritious, and delicious food. On the farm, we use integrated pest management and other organic practices rather than harmful pesticides, grow a variety of crops and provide flowers and opportunities for these pollinators to feed year-round and provide education on the importance of bees to the food cycle and encourage visitors to learn about these communal insects.

"MUSC’s hive helps in the push to shift public perception from seeing bees as menacing stingers to critical foragers so the next generation will less likely reach for that bottle of pesticide. Seeing the bees in the hive goes a long way in helping to reduce fears about bees and is a platform to help visitors see the tie between insects, food, and health, especially since most fruits and vegetables rely on pollinators. We have such a bug phobia that we’re spraying and killing everything – butterflies, ladybugs. We’re killing the good things too. There are so many life lessons that can come from slowing down and realizing where our food comes from and all the different spokes on the wheel. It’s all an interconnected web. Bees are as important as sunlight and water when it comes to growing our food.”

Volunteer with Pocket Urban Farms

Opportunities on the MUSC Urban Farm

Students, staff, and community members are encouraged to become involved in the Urban Farm as active participants.

Students, staff, and community members are encouraged to become involved in the Urban Farm as active participants. Email us at urbanfarm@musc.edu to learn more details. Watch our social media for volunteer opportunities.

Pocket Urban Farms Leadership Team

Susan L. Johnson, Ph.D.
Director of Health Promotion
johnsusa@musc.edu
843-792-1245

Kaitlin DaPore, Wellness Coordinator, NBC-HWC
Director of Health Coaching & Wellness Programs
daporek@musc.edu
843-792-9536

Laura Nance, Wellness Dietitian, MA, RDN/LD, CDCES
Wellness Dietitian
nancel@musc.edu

Robin Smith
Grounds Manager
smirc@musc.edu

Noni Langford
Special Projects Coordinator, Pocket Urban Farm
langforn@musc.edu

 

Partner Organizations

 

Pocket Urban Farm Resources

Browse our library of informational guides, handouts, and crop sheets for creating a healthy lifestyle including starting an urban growing space.

Use the Tool Kit to browse useful resources on how to create a healthier lifestyle

Guides for Creating & Maintaining Gardens

Research indicates that people who have ready access to gardens eat more plant-based foods, contributing to a healthier diet. Here are some of the "how to guides" to encourage starting or expanding a garden.

Lifestyle Handouts

While not related to gardening, the following documents can help in the pursuit of a healthier lifestyle.

Contact the MUSC Pocket Urban Farm

Email: urbanfarm@musc.edu

Mailing Address:

ATTN Pocket Urban Farms at MUSC
97 Jonathan Lucas St.
MSC 190
Charleston, SC 29425
Noni Langford, Pocket Urban Farm Manager