Before Tuesday, journalism sophomore Jalisa Fisher had never set foot in the Campus Community Garden.
“I feel like a gardener already and this is my first time here!” Fisher said, raking a dirt plot in preparation for a new batch of seeds.
The Office of Sustainability and the Metropolitan Volunteer Program teamed up at the Campus Community Garden at the intersection of Wheeler Street and Cullen Boulevard as a part of the ongoing Earth Week activities. Students learned to weed, harvest and grow from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday.
“The useable produce that students harvest is donated to food pantries in Houston, while the rest is turned into compost,” said garden coordinator Angelika Fuller.
Earth-loving students got down and dirty in the plots today. Education junior Charlotte Gutierrez said she encouraged her friend to join her.
“We step on (the Earth),” Gutierrez said. “It cares for us; we don’t care for it. I don’t want to live in a wasteland… I want the children to grow as the plants grow.”
Volunteers discussed the importance of nutrition and the practicality of learning to grow plants.
“Nutrition’s my passion, so I’m spreading the word,” said nutrition senior Paridhi Patel.
Supply-chain management junior Carlos Salinas, who took a stronger standpoint on growing organic produce, said he’s against eating genetically modified organisms.
“What you eat is what you are,” Salinas said.
For more information about other events included in UH Earth Week, visit the UH Office of Sustainability website.
