NMU Hoop House

Beginning of the 2026 season in the Hoop House

About Us

The NMU Hoop House is a collaborative learning space for anyone curious or passionate about where food comes from and how it's grown. Through sustainable agriculture, research, education, and community building, we bring people together to learn by growing.

Our work aims to expand the local food system, strengthen food security, and increase access to fresh, healthy food. We create opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and community members to explore sustainable agriculture and the full cycle of locally grown food, from planting and harvesting to saving seeds and composting.

Whether you're an experienced gardener, interested in sustainable agriculture, or simply want to get your hands dirty, the Hoop House is a place to connect, contribute, and get involved.

Throughout the 2026 Fall semester, volunteer sessions are every Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. If you have any questions or would like more information, please email hoophouse@nmu.edu.

We've moved to Woodland Park!

The NMU Hoop House has a new home in the Sustainability Demonstration Area at Woodland Park, just east of the Woodland Park Apartments. Thanks to funding from the Michigan Hunger-Free Campus Pilot Program, NMU acquired two new hoop houses and materials for the Construction Management program to build ten raised garden beds!

Our new site gives students even more opportunities to grow food, learn about sustainable agriculture, and connect with the broader campus community. The Hoop Houses are now part of a larger space focused on hands-on sustainability, with projects including composting, pollinator gardens, beekeeping, on-campus orchars, and solar energy.

The Marquette Hoop House Pilot Project began in 2009 on Northern Michigan University’s campus as a partnership between Northern Initiatives, the Marquette Food Co-op, and NMU's College of Professional Studies. In October 2015, NMU assumed management of the Hoop House and continued to focus on sustainable agriculture while creating opportunities for current and aspiring farmers, students, and the greater Marquette community to learn how to use hoop houses to extend the growing season in a northern climate.

Maddy Humphrey (BS ’21, Environmental Studies and Sustainability) launched the NMU Hoop House Student Organization as her Freshman Fellowship project, contributing toward greater student involvement and co-leadership opportunities. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, most of the food harvested from the Hoop House has been donated to the NMU Food Pantry, strengthening students' connections to their food.

As the Hoop House has grown, so have opportunities for students to take on leadership roles within the project. Through NMU's Sustainability Hub for Innovation and Environment (SHINE), a Hoop House intern position began in March of 2026. The intern supports the student organization by helping co-leaders manage planting, growing, and tending to food in the Hoop Houses throughout the growing season.

Drop Off Your Composting at NMU

Accepted Materials:

Fruit and vegetable scraps (remove the stickers), egg shells, bread, pasta, rice or cereal, coffee grounds and tea leaves, grass clippings, garden weeds, leaves, twigs, mulch, sawdust, torn up paper

Unaccepted Materials:

Meat and fish, dairy, citrus fruits, large pits, salty foods

Storing Scraps:

Keep scraps in a plastic bag or storage container in the freezer until ready to drop off at the NMU Hoop House.

Help us reduce the amount of organic material that is dumped in the landfill! Composted food scraps provide nutrients to crops grown at the NMU Hoop House.

Come Grow With Us

The Hoop House is available to every gardener, community member and student, regardless of experience. Want to pursue a research project at the Hoop House? Interested in soils and native plants? Have some landscape art you want to display? You will find endless opportunities to experiment and learn at the NMU Hoop House! Email hoophouse@nmu.edu to find out more or get involved.