Farm House loses its farm

Farm House residents are using plant beds to grow food after losing farm due to the Civic Engagement Center’s construction. (Levi Magill)

Farm House has lost its farm, due to changes in the original construction plans of the Civic Engagement Quad (CEQ) and Edith Renfrow Smith `37 Hall in downtown Grinnell that saw the installation of infrastructure to support construction on Farm House’s original plot.

This decision, however, came as a surprise to the residents at Farm House, who said they thought the construction would spare their farm.  

The pale yellow house, situated by the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and Park Street, has been a mainstay among the College’s school-owned project houses, awarded each year to student groups focused on common goals. In this case, that goal is farming. Other houses include the Global House, Game House and the Grinnellians Who Are Ready to Cook House. 

According to Farm House Coordinator Phil Tyne `24, Farm House residents were notified in the spring of 2022 that construction would begin in the fall, and the College did not provide any specific alternative solutions. 

However, students signing up for the 2022-23 school year knew they would be using an alternative method for farming, Tyne wrote to the S&B. That method consisted of building raised plant beds around the house and planting crops there instead.

The house’s residents said they took pride in making a shared living space with a love for agriculture, Tyne said. “There is a general sense of both respect for your roommates and respect for the garden that we’re working with.” Farm House uses their garden to plant crops that they use for food, seeds and donations to the student food pantry. 

The actual CEQ and Renfrow Hall construction site, near the southwest corner of Sixth Avenue and Broad Street, does not directly affect Farm House. It is only the utility infrastructure, such as heating and air conditioning, connecting Renfrow Hall to the rest of campus that brought about the end of the coveted farm. 

After it was decided that tearing up all of Sixth Avenue was infeasible, the only alternative was to go parallel to it and, therefore, construction had to go under the farm, according to Dennis Perkins, Jr., assistant dean of residence life and student conduct. 

“For full-time students, what we have now is pretty good,” Farm House resident Henry Gold `25 said, referring to the newly installed plant beds. Even with this new alternative, Tyne said that the residents still had difficulty obtaining information from Facilities Management (FM) about supplies, stating that the house had to “scramble to find dirt” last year.

Outside of Farm House (Levi Magill)

Farm House also lacked a community advisor (CA) or a house coordinator last year, two crucial leadership positions that partly serve project houses.

“I think they realized that they made that mistake,” Gold said, describing the lack of a CA or house coordinator and difficulty establishing communication with FM about the new planting methods. “They were almost impressed with us last year that we were able to do [so much], in spite of Grinnell’s administration making it almost impossible to do anything,” Gold said. 

“FM works directly with [Residence Life] regarding any housing questions and concerns. This communication ensures that housing-related matters, including those related to any other residential property, are addressed effectively,” Christi Baker, project manager for FM, wrote in an email to the S&B. “The nature and frequency of this communication would be tailored to the specific needs and requirements of the residential properties under discussion, including Farm House,” Baker added. 

Perkins echoed the residents’ comments about the communication process. “Farm House wasn’t initially communicated with, because the plan wasn’t to ever touch it … I think some of the students that were there were a little agitated. Makes sense,” Perkins said. 

Through its makeshift adjustments, Farm House still produces crops and food as it did before. 

“As is with just the four raised beds we have, and then plot in the back, we not only have enough food for the house, but we’ve been taking at least a pretty hefty bag of donations over to the Student Food Pantry every other week or so, and that started in July,” Tyne said. 

Even with the complications resulting from the construction, Farm House residents said they still plan on having their Farmstock student music festival on Oct. 7 and their annual harvest brunch on Nov. 11.