College Park Scholars Service in the Garden

Image Credit: Diana Velasquez-munoz

September 17, 2013

Fifteen University of Maryland freshmen, eager to help their campus community, dirtied their hands before classes even began this semester.  The College Park Scholars came from varied majors and backgrounds and worked in the Public Health Garden making much-needed improvements to the garden.

The Public Health Garden, located between the School of Public Health and the Eppley Recreation Center, is a key teaching space for the Sustainable Agriculture program at the Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA) and provides space for a student garden club.  Because most students leave campus during the summer, which is the busiest season in a garden, a few committed volunteers maintained the space.  Phillip Capon, Diana Velasquez-munoz, and Yixin Chen successfully kept the garden productive over the summer and are the first to welcome the extra help that the College Park Scholars bring.  Service Day provides an important opportunity for many hands to come together and conquer some of the larger projects.

The College Park Scholars cleared out beds of old plantings, moved an entire truck load of fresh compost  to replenish the soil, transplanted blackberry bushes and perennial flowers, weeded, organized, swept, and more. They finished the day by planting salad tables and an entire bed of fall crops. “In addition to being a great volunteer opportunity, the scholars had a lot of fun working together and picking out the seeds for the various garden beds,” said Diana Velasquez-munoz. IAA Alumni Carin Celebuski, the UMD Arboretum Volunteer Coordinator, coordinated the entire day’s activities.

Without student help, the Public Health Garden would not have been ready to welcome students back for another exciting year at the IAA.  The Scholars are encouraged visit the garden again to see their carrots, parsnips, beets, radishes, turnips, lettuce, kale, collards, broccoli, and rutabagas growing strong! Thank you, College Park Scholars!