The Solar Decathlon Garden—A Movable Feast
By Samantha Wickham
Stefano Paltera/Solar Decathlon
The greening of the National Mall begins as Maki Uchida waters the landscape of Cornell's solar-powered house that is both functional and sustainable, Oct. 5 in Washington, D.C.
Three trucks loaded with 96 flats of vegetables and herbs left Ithaca, New York on October 4th, bound for Washington, D.C. The trucks carried the garden that would be set up around the house designed (and also trucked!) by a team of Cornell students for entry in the United States Department of Energy’s International Solar Decathlon competition.
Designed to meet the nutritional requirements of one person for one year, the garden was grown by students in the departments of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture. The 1,500 edible plants consisted of 25 different types of peppers, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, onions, beans, peas, artichokes, brussels sprouts, carrots, turnips, radishes, sage, basil, and lemongrass, to name just a few. Ted Haffner, Marc Miller, Maki Uchida, and Alison Endl led the landscaping team, which swelled to 15 people at the height of the project. From May to August the students worked with Greg Heist, a Cornell alumnus and owner of a local nursery, to start the plants from seed. Due to the time of year and the poor feasibility of transporting certain crops, the gardeners worked without grains, potatoes, corn, and tomatoes.
Among the garden's 1,500 edible plants were cabbage, broccoli, onions, beans, peas, artichokes, and brussels sprouts.
The basic idea of the garden was to illustrate the connection of the house to the landscape: The food grown in the garden would be eaten in the house, and the leftover scraps would be used to replenish nutrients for the next season’s plants. While in Washington, Marc Miller prepared five meals using the vegetables from the garden. Zellman Warhaft, a professor of engineering, praised the garden, saying, “The other [17] Solar Decathlon teams focused on their own house, while Cornell integrated the landscape into the house’s design. The garden is lovely and functional.” According to the Washington Times, Cornell’s garden was the best of the competition.
After its return to Ithaca, the house was set up on the Ag Quad, though without its garden, unfortunately. Due to the lateness of the season, the plants were given away when the competition ended. The group has not yet decided if and when they are going to sell the house, whose cost is estimated at $400,000. More information on the Solar Decathlon, and the house itself, is available at: www.news.cornell.edu/stories/oct05/solar.DC.bpf.html.