Pumpkins, tomatoes, onions and squash. These are some of the vegetables that can be seen growing in the community gardens located on various campuses of Salt Lake Community College.
Both students and the public are invited to come and participate in the development and growth of the community gardens. Every Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. the community garden subcommittee gets together. For a person interested in learning more about the garden and curious of how to get involved with the gardens, it would be recommended to attend these weekly gatherings.
“We hope to have about thirty total plots here in the next year. The call for any new plots will be going out again in November… it’s exciting; we should have some openings because we have a new garden here at the Redwood Campus,” said Clint Gardner, current chair of the Community Garden Subcommittee.
Every spring and fall, to celebrate the garden, the subcommittee hosts a Harvest Party. On September 29th, the 2nd Annual Fall Harvest Party was held. It was a free event open to local community members and students held near the Taylorsville Redwood Campus gardens on the east side of the Construction Trades Building. Even if you’re not a part of the Sustainability Club or involved directly with the garden, don’t let that deter you from attending the harvest parties put on by the garden twice a year.
“We just get together and celebrate the garden and give information out about what’s going on with the garden and how students can get involved. We paint pumpkins and just enjoy,” said Gardner.
It takes a lot to start a community garden. One needs to take time to plan a location appropriate for creating a sense of camaraderie among its users, find a committee to control the garden, as well as have insurance for any problems that could go wrong. Luckily Salt Lake Community College has each of these processes covered, and is very excited for students to get involved and see community gardens flourish throughout each of our SLCC campuses. There are gardens located at Jordan Campus, Miller Campus and the Taylorsville Redwood Campus.
For more information go to http://www.slcc.edu/green/courses.asp
