Frequently asked questions

No. Mountaintop Discovery Gardens is in its planning phase: an independent student plan, and nothing is funded or built yet. It is not an official project of, or sponsored or endorsed by, Lehigh University, and this website is not an official Lehigh University website. Lehigh University is named only to describe where the garden would be. Locations, sizes and dimensions are preliminary and unverified.

The plan has been shared with university offices for feedback. Nothing will happen on campus without the university's written permission.

The pilot is illustrated on the East Summit Lawn, beside Iacocca Hall on the Mountaintop Campus. That is one of three possible study areas found in a desktop review. None of them has been offered, and none has site permission. See the site study.

The pilot is illustrated at about 0.74 acre (about 190 × 170 ft), within a range of 0.5 to 1 acre. A longer-term garden of about 6 acres across three areas is a possibility only after the pilot is reviewed, and only if Lehigh agrees to more than one area, soil and utility studies are done, funding is found and there is a realistic year-round maintenance plan. See Long-Term Possibilities.

No. The plan uses existing open lawn only and proposes no woodland clearing.

Lehigh reports converting part of a Mountaintop lawn to native meadow in summer 2021, but its report does not say where (checked through search results). Satellite data suggest it may be the West Lawn (Area 3). If so, the plan proposes protecting it as it is.

Costs haven't been estimated. Ranges would be prepared with Lehigh Facilities from verified unit costs. There is no funding today.

Soil would be tested before any food is grown. If results rule out in-ground growing, only raised beds with clean, documented soil would be used. Any sharing with food programs would follow a written food-safety protocol agreed with the partner and university staff. See Food & Community.

Not yet. The garden is in its planning phase and nothing is built, so please don't start any work on campus. The volunteer vision describes how it might work later.

The plan has a water point with a bottle filler at the entry; where it would connect is still to be confirmed. Restrooms are not part of the pilot plan. Visitors would need accessible restrooms nearby, including all-gender and family rooms, and where those would be is an open question for the university. That last point is a later idea, not in the plan PDF.

A later idea, not in the plan PDF: leashed pets could be welcome on the paths where it is safe and the university's campus rules allow. They would be kept out of the edible beds for food safety.

It is a future idea only. Voting would need university authorization and a verified, private way for students to take part. This site has no accounts and doesn't collect votes.

No. Those ideas are speculative, we found no supporting source for them, and they are not part of this garden plan.

Please use the Contact page. Corrections to anything on this site are very welcome.