Right in the middle of Woodbury University lies a hidden gem. Many students who live in South Hall, one of the campus' two dormitories, pass by this hidden gem daily. However, those who stop in the dorm courtyard, take a moment, and enjoy their surroundings will notice this: a garden is blooming. There is an abundance of color, courtesy of the wide variety of flowers. The sun, although perpetually hot and bright in California, adds a special kind of warmth to this place. The birds are chirping, the bees are pollinating, and the squirrels are running everywhere. And there is a girl who has come here every day for the past two years to do one simple thing: water her plants.

​That girl is Ellie Poulin, a graphic design student who hails from Portland, Oregon. Growing up, she was an adventurous type: stirring sticks around in a pot and calling it a potion, mashing up leaves and trying to dye various objects, and climbing trees and getting her friends into all kinds of escapades. Nowadays, she's pursuing a promising career in graphic design -- already winning consecutive awards for Outstanding Body of Work at Woodbury University and receiving recognition from GDUSA for American Web Design -- but her adventurous spirit still lives on.

​She is a curious hiker, often straying off the beaten path and blazing her own trail; she is an avid reader of historical fiction, enjoying the drama of Vikings, the Middle Ages, and Greek mythology; and she is a proud environmental activist, doing her part to reuse, reduce, and recycle as much as she can in her daily life. Of course, she also composts and grows her own herbs and vegetables, all in her garden at Woodbury University. And as the president of Sustainability Club, she is being joined by many other students who actively want to contribute to the beauty that has been growing under her gentle care.

Ellie's garden in November 2018 (left) and January 2020 (right)

​With the beginning of the spring and the flowers in full bloom, I had the perfect opportunity to interview Ellie about her garden. Nasturtiums, snapdragons, and sunflowers were just some of the vibrant plants that surrounded me, making it hard to believe that the South Hall courtyard was nothing more than faded grass, dry dirt, and lonely trees not too long ago. Ellie's story -- and the story of her garden -- is a lesson in passion, perseverance, and dedication.

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"I got started with this garden in the fall of 2018... it was getting dark out, and the Edison lights we have hanging here in the garden were turned on. And they had the most wonderful, warm glow, and they hid all of the desolation that was here... 
​...all I could see was the potential of the garden and what I wanted to do with it."

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How did you get started with gardening? 
I got started with this garden in the fall of 2018... it was getting dark out, and the Edison lights we have hanging here in the garden were turned on. And they had the most wonderful, warm glow, and they hid all of the desolation that was here. Like, there was nothing growing, there was nothing alive, there was very little green -- but the lights had this softness to them, and all I could see was the potential of the garden and what I wanted to do with it. Later that night, I messaged my RA and asked if anyone could plant stuff there, and they said yes!

​What was the process of starting your garden like?
I just started researching plants that were native to southern California. I started researching plants that did well in sun or shade or whatever. Like, I really didn't know that much, and then I was like, 'okay, you just start them in something.' Potting soil and empty egg cartons -- that's all I needed at first.

For the next month-and-a-half after I began, I did not have a desk in my dorm. I had a small army of egg cartons on my desk with dirt and seeds, and after a painstakingly long amount of time, I had little sprouts! I was so excited when I saw my first one -- I think it was oregano -- and it was just a tiny, tiny speck of green in all of this brown. It gave me so much hope to keep going.

Where Ellie's garden began -- seedlings in egg cartons by a window.

Ellie's candytuft.

​What inspired you to maintain this garden?
When I was a kid, I actually read this book where this girl lives in an orphanage and she hops over the back wall, wanders into the woods, and finds this little house. It's just a little cottage, it's kind of run-down, but there's a few things in there, and she kind of starts making a home in there. Any time she can get away, she runs into the woods and goes to this little house. It became her own space, and I always really liked that kind of fantasy of taking something that is plain, making it more beautiful, and making it a home with just your own hands and what you have. So when I saw this garden, I was like, maybe this is my chance.

"Last semester, I saw my first bee on a plant! I literally cried -- I was so happy to see a sign of life in this garden that I worked so hard to create."

What was the garden like before you began?
When I started, there were no worms in the dirt, there were no bugs. There were no weeds, which sounds really good, but it's actually a sign that the soil is so absolutely parched and devoid of any kind of life! It was brown and dusty and it smelled like dry pine needles in the heat of summer, which is a very specific smell. It was very distinct -- it was obvious that nothing had grown here. There were rocks everywhere in the soil. I don't even know how to describe it, because I'm looking at the garden blooming now and I can't believe that it used to look like nothing.

Ellie's African daisies.

Ellie tending to one of her snapdragon flowers.

Did you face any difficulties while growing your garden?
There were a lot of times when I thought, 'I could just not do this,' but I decided to push through and see what happens. I came to the garden every morning that semester -- I got up early before class and watered my plants. Sometimes, I showed up to class covered in dirt, because I had to wrangle the hose back into a coil after I was done.

After I planted my seedlings into the ground, some of them lived and some of them died. For example, all my tomato plants wiped out within a week... and then, three weeks later, a tomato plant just started thriving out of absolutely nowhere! There were a few plants that were here in the garden before I started and some of them looked pretty dead, but I watered them anyways. I think all of them have recovered -- they're doing very well today!

What other memorable experiences have you had while gardening?
Last semester, I saw my first bee on a plant! I literally cried -- I was so happy to see a sign of life in this garden that I worked so hard to create. Now, I'm proud to see even more bees coming by to pollinate. I always see a group of squirrels running around and chasing each other in the garden, although sometimes they eat my flowers. And I think the birds are getting more comfortable with me -- there's one specific bird who's been landing closer and closer to me, just watching, and it doesn't get scared away by my presence.

I also started a compost pile, which has been working really well! I just started keeping the weeds, leaves, clippings, and pine needles that I pulled and swept them into a pile behind a tree. Then I just watered it, which sounds weird, but you have to water your compost. I left school for a couple of months last summer, and my friends took care of the garden for me... by the time I came back last fall, my compost pile had turned into really dark, rich dirt! That earned me a bit of a reputation because I got so excited about dirt. Anyways, I added that to the soil around some of my plants, and that's helped them grow more.

"There's been a Sustainability Council comprised of faculty, and the university wanted to have a student side of that -- at the same time, I was also planning with a couple of my friends to form a garden club, so it worked out!"

What are your future plans for the garden?
I want to get the garden to a place where it will be self-sufficient to some level. I want to plant plants that are happy where they are, like the poppies! They've done so well, because they're used to being in such dry soil, but I also want to leave behind a legacy of other students that care. I know there's a lot of them, but I want to get them organized so that there will be somebody to water the garden, weed it, look after it, and make sure that it's loved, even after I'm gone.

I've actually started a club -- a student organization to look after the garden. There's been a Sustainability Council comprised of faculty, and the university wanted to have a student side of that -- at the same time, I was also planning with a couple of my friends to form a garden club, so it worked out! The goal is to spread more knowledge about the garden, make it more accessible for people, and empower them to start planting. If they have any questions or they don't know how to start, they can go to whoever's on the Sustainability Council and get those answers.

Ellie's California poppies, reaching out to the sun.

Do you have any advice for people who want to start gardening?
It's a lot easier than you think! Everything that you learn about plants in kindergarten still holds true: you need a seed, dirt, water, sunlight, and something to put it all in! It can be a glass jar, or it can be an egg carton. Give it water every morning when you wake up, and be patient! It'll take a couple weeks for something to sprout, but trust your plants -- they will find their way up.

"I'm just as happy today, looking at everything that is blooming and growing right now, as I was when I first planted my seedlings in the ground."

Ellie's geranium bush in November 2018 (left) and March 2020 (right)

​If you also want to be more environmentally conscious, you can also start composting at home! I have a little bin for my kitchen counter, which fills up about once a week, and then take it to my garden and use the compost for my plants. The compost bin is basically vegan, so I don't throw my veggie scraps, banana peels, and other organic food waste into the trash. It feels really nice to cut down on the amount of waste that I'm contributing to the world.

How do you feel about your garden and all the work you've put into it?
I'm just as happy today, looking at everything that is blooming and growing right now, as I was when I first planted my seedlings in the ground. They were so tiny, and I thought most of them wouldn't make it, but they survived and grew to be strong and healthy! It really is the same feeling every time I look at my garden.

Sometimes I hear that people have really enjoyed what I've done with the garden. It feels so right to me to have done this, that sometimes it surprises me that I went out of my way in the fall of 2018 and just started doing this. I asked for permission to start planting things one time and nobody really cared. That was the thing -- I could do what I wanted and that was kind of amazing!

Finally, I want to say sorry to the people that live here in South Hall. They've had to deal with me playing in the dirt under their dorms, but I think they can tell that it's been well worth it.

To keep in touch with Ellie's mission and see how the garden is doing, follow @wusustainability on Instagram!

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