Greenhouse Underway At Raritan Valley Community College

BRANCHBURG, NJ — Raritan Valley Community College broke ground on a greenhouse that will be used by students to conduct rare plant research and grow organic food and native plants.

The greenhouse is being built under the leadership of RVCC Professor Jay Kelly. The $70,000 project, which is expected to be completed in May, was funded through a variety of sources, including private donations, College funds, and a federal grant.

Kelly said the 18-foot x 36-foot greenhouse will make it easier to give students lessons in growing plants year-round, as the growing season isn't very well aligned with the academic calendar.

It also will help with ongoing student projects involving the raising of plants for organic food production, native plant propagation, and rare plant research.

Additionally, the greenhouse will help the College’s Environmental Club and Enactus Team (a business/entrepreneurial club) who have been very active in organic food production and hydroponics.

Kelly has been involved in rare plant research and propagation efforts for the past 20 years, working with government agencies and non-profits to help prevent the extinction of rare plant species in the wild. This has included raising the endangered plant species, American chaffseed (Schwalbea americana), for reintroduction to sites where it historically occurred.

According to Kelly, this species is one of the rarest plants in the northeastern US, with only two populations remaining in the northern portions of its range, from Massachusetts through Virginia.

Work in the greenhouse will also include raising native plants to help enhance and restore the campus environment, which, like many areas in New Jersey, has been severely degraded by overabundant deer, exotic invasive plant species, forest fragmentation, and other effects of human activities, said Kelly.

In these research and restoration efforts, the College is partnering with Duke Farms and hopes to replicate the successes they have had at restoring the natural environment and educating the public about environmental stewardship on campus and in the community.

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