In an effort between our great Students for Sustainability (SFS) members and the fabulous garden coordinator, Devin Herd, SFS has been able to restart our school garden, which is located on the north side of Teresa hall. Devin actually got a hold of the garden this past summer and with some help harvested the remaining crops and began watering and tilling for the upcoming season. Official major work on the garden didn’t begin until the beginning of the Fall 2014 semester. Devin and the crew did a lot of cleaning up of the area but focused primarily on reconstruction of the fence around the garden in an effort to stop wild animals from entering and destroying the crops and water system. Devin and the crew were also able to build a complete dripping irrigation system for the crops this past fall semester and with the help of Bon Appétit we were able to fill the barrel with fresh iced water leftover from the Ragsdale cafeteria every Friday.
The crops that were planted for the fall semester were garlic, turnips, carrots, winter squash, radishes, beets, mint, beans, and peas. These were chosen because they grew well in the winter harvesting season. The majority of crops that were planted came as seedlings so we wouldn’t have to worry about germinations. This means that the crops would come sooner compared to planting seeds.
The main goal of the SFS garden is to be able to have a successful harvest each season because our good friends at Bon Appétit have agreed to purchase our organic home-grown crops. They can advertise that they purchase local crops, and in turn we produce a profit for the SFS organization which allows us to purchase crops for the next season and other necessary items for the organization.
-Lalo Jasso
Class of 2016
SFS Member