September 23, 2024: Community Garden
by Tanner Fleckenstein
This week was our first field trip in our Spark Class. But it will not be our last. Short field trips relating to sustainability are the cornerstone of the class and we will end up taking many more in the coming weeks. Four of our first trips were going to be speaking with a representative of the Community Garden on campus. While we waited the atmosphere was just as lively as the week before. All the students were talking amongst themself, and despite them not wearing the bright green shirts of Carson house, there was still a distinct feeling of community amongst them.
Even though Professor Bristin was absent due to research obligations, the class quieted almost immediately when we spoke up to get their attention. Myself and Jose prepped the class on what the days class would hold, and what the intention behind the trip was. We were going to learn about sustainable food production on a somewhat larger scale than what a backyard garden might hold, while still being local and not a large scale production. We wanted the students to focus not just on how the garden works, but how it is involved with the campus community.
Once we arrived at the on campus Community Garden Allajah Wheatley, our Zero Waste Coordinator, gave us a small primer on what the garden was before walking us through it explaining the decision making process behind certain plants, and anecdotes related to how the Garden has performed in the past. Students were encouraged to wander and harvest anything that looked ripe, a few students even started to snack on the vegetables they picked. In the end Allajah fielded questions and gave information on how to volunteer at the community garden with our remaining class time.
