Fall Harvest in the Garden!

The community garden has had great success in harvesting its crop this season! Here is a chronicle of the successes of the garden this year:

On Sunday, September 15th, the Sustainable Life Club gathered in order to harvest the first crop from the garden! A group of seven students collaborated on harvesting tomatoes, basil, and peppers from the garden. In total, we gathered 20 pounds of tomatoes, 9 pounds of peppers and a large bunch of basil from this harvest. We

The club collaborates on gathering the harvest!
The club collaborates on gathering the harvest!

decided to donate this produce to the dining hall for them to use in their salad. The dining hall had fresh tomatoes and peppers out the next day, fresh from the garden!

After that, we still had much more to harvest: on Friday October 4th, we gathered three small buckets of black beans, a bunch of onions, kale, peppers, garlic and a bucket of tomatoes from the garden. That Sunday, we met and made dinner: a sauté of garlic, peppers, onions, black beans, and tomatoes. We also made kale chips by slicing the kale into small “chip” pieces and cooking them in the oven. It was delicious! The meal was even better because it all came from the garden: local, real, homegrown food.

The club brought some of the harvest to the dining hall!

Our latest harvest was on Friday, October 11th. We picked a bundle of kale, four pumpkins, and picked the remaining tomatoes. We brought over the harvest to the dining hall, where they used it in their meal for the next day. The pumpkins are put on display under the televisions in the front of the dining hall.

Last Saturday, October 19th, we covered two of our four garden beds, allowing the soil to rest for the winter. We pulled all the tomato, basil, and pepper plants out and spread a layer of compost over the beds. The compost helps rejuvenate the nutrients in the soil, making more fruitful harvests in the following years. After that, we laid out a thin coating of hay on the beds in order to keep the garden looking clean and weed-free before we begin planting in the spring. The hay also helps prevent erosion and creates an even healthier habitat for worms to dig around and make the soil even more fertile!

Students harvest black beans from the garden!
Students harvest black beans from the garden!

Gardening is just one way that Williston is becoming more sustainable. By gardening, the club hopes to teach the importance of living sustainably, eating local food, knowing where food comes from, and how it is made. We also hope to create and develop students’ strong bond with nature through the enjoyment of gardening.

If you wish to join us in the garden as we make our final preparations for winter, stop by the garden on Friday afternoons during activities!

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