Just off Parking Lot F, and beside the Arrowhead Village pool, sits the Coyote Garden. Started as a class assignment in 2019 by a group of students, the garden is now cared for by Associated Students Incorporated and student volunteers. Small but lush, the garden grows a variety of fruit, vegetables, and herbs that volunteers harvest and donate to the Obershaw DEN for current students.

Plants are selected based on seasonality, resiliency, and the needs of students. Currently, garden visitors can find fruits such as oranges and melons, vegetables like arugula, nopales, onions, zucchini and peppers, and herbs like mint, lavender and basil.

Poppies, milkweed, a variety of sages, and other native wildflowers further fill out the garden and attract important pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Soon, wine cap mushrooms will join the party. Visitors should watch where they step when exploring the garden, as a few of the plants have spread out of their designated beds.

In an area as dry as San Bernardino, efficient water usage is essential to the garden’s goal of sustainability. Aside from selecting plants that are adapted to arid conditions, the garden primarily uses a drip irrigation system.

In drip irrigation, water is distributed around the garden at low pressure through a system of tubes at ground level. The water goes straight to the roots where the plants need it most, greatly reducing waste. The system is also fairly durable; the garden’s tubing only recently needed replacing after five years of consistent use.

Conservative methods are also utilized when it comes to pest management. Rather than using toxic pesticides, pests are mostly handled through the use of diatomaceous earth, a powder that can be rubbed on the plants. It keeps harmful insects like aphids away while leaving the plants safe for people and pollinators. Marigolds around the garden also help keep aphids off of other plants. That said, marigolds and diatomaceous earth can’t handle all potential problems.

According to Abigail Ochoa, ASI’s sustainability coordinator, a gopher has taken up residence in the garden. She’s been stomping out its holes when she finds them, but it hasn’t been deterred.

“I personally don’t have the heart to kill it,” said Ochoa. “We’re just going to try to live side-by-side.”

Ochoa, a Studio Arts major with a background in Environmental Studies, was a long-time volunteer before taking over as sustainability coordinator in July. She knows every plant in the garden and where to find them, even the ones that have strayed from their original beds and planted themselves elsewhere. She wants the garden to be a bright, welcoming space for faculty and students to enjoy.

Aside from her appreciation for nature, what she finds most rewarding about working on the garden is the way she is able to help her fellow students.

“I love knowing that people are eating the food,” she said.

For anyone who would like to contribute their time to the garden and learn more about plants and sustainability, volunteer hours take place every Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.