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.
Update
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 capstone students in the Construction Management program to build 18 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 orchards, and solar energy.
Hoop House Intern
Katy Pawlusiak
Aanii! In my short time as the Hoop House Intern with SHINE, I have been privileged to have so many wonderful opportunities and experiences. I started my summer by helping get the two new hoop houses on campus up and running for the growing season. The Hoop House crew and I arranged and filled garden beds, planted seeds and starts, and shopped around for plants from local farms. All summer long, I cared for the plants with help from my three-year-old daughter, Nicole, fellow students, and wonderful community volunteers. To date, we have grown over 150 pounds of produce that has directly benefited students on campus through the food pantry or the volunteers’ direct harvests. In addition to my time in the garden, I have participated in many sustainability-related initiatives on campus that allow me to see a direct impact from the work I do. I can’t wait to see what this semester brings!
If I were a piece of produce, I'd be a pumpkin!
- Katy Pawlusiak, Hoop House Intern with SHINE
Contact: kawheele@nmu.edu
Co-Leaders
Abby Owen
aowen@nmu.eduIf Abby were a piece of produce, she'd be a radish.
P.S. Shout-out to Abby for drawing the Hoop House tomato stickers!
Savannah Van Daalwyk
svandaal@nmu.eduIf Savannah were a produce item, she would be a carrot as well
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
Not Currently Accepting:
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. To learn more about composting on campus, click here.
Cultural food beds from left to right: African American, Asian American, Mexican/Latin American
Inclusivity and Collaboration
All cultures and experience levels are welcome, and in an effort to promote and celebrate diversity we’ve intentionally curated different cultural food beds. In addition, the Hoop House Student Organization has worked to promote collaboration and cooperation with various Indigenous organizations both on and off campus. Work with the Native American Student Association (NASA) on campus has resulted in the planting of a Three Sisters garden (corn, beans, squash) following traditional Indigenous ecological practices. The student org has also collaborated with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) Promise neighborhoods to foster community and support their goal of “Significantly improv[ing] the educational and developmental outcomes of children and youth in our community.”
Our History
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 and the College of Arts and Sciences 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.
The NMU Hoop House In the News
NMU Hoop House supports local food system with the help of students, November 6, 2023
EEGS participates in East Lakes Division of American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, February 21, 2023
EEGS and Seaborg Center host Summer 2022 Environmental Science Camp, August 1, 2022