Organic garden opened

Woodstock has sprouted a green thumb. The new Turner Organic Garden was dedicated on February 19, 2008. The old school orchard, located on the ridge next to the senior boy's hostel, has been brought back to life with fresh plantings of vegetables and fruit trees. This sustainable environmental project was initiated with donations received from Sue Turner Hanifl '63, her brother Woodrow Turner '61 and Li Chu '59. The idea has been germinating for several years, when a small group of Woodstock staff first suggested establishing an organic garden that would eventually become economically viable and provide vegetable produce for the school kitchen. It would also serve as an environmental resource for our students and a horticultural training model for farmers in the region.

Darab Nagarwalla '80 has been leading the effort to make this project a reality. Woodstock has entered into an agreement with Mussoorie Gramin Vikas Samiti (MGVS) a local NGO that already operates an organic farm at a village between Dhanaulti and Chamba. Woodstock classes have begun visiting the farm, helping to prepare the seedling beds and plant some of the new trees. There are many challenges to growing organic vegetables in Mussoorie, not the least of which are troops of monkeys that often raid crops. Darab Nagarwalla has come up with the solution of farm dogs, probably the first time Woodstock has employed a canine corps.