Contributed by Gabriela Von Euw
“The master of the garden is the one who waters it, trims the branches, plants the seeds and pulls the weeds.”
On President’s Day, February 19, three clubs from Chabot Community College gathered to clean up and beautify the garden at Chabot. This effort was a restorative one; the garden, now covered in weeds, used to be blooming with flowers and vegetables and provided a place for students to hang out in nature.
The project was hosted by Revolutionaries Advocating for Greener Ecosystems (RAGE), an environmental club focused on sustainable practices through community service and lead by president Sasha Durst. Sasha is also the club president for the other participating club, Alpha Gamma Sigma Honor Society (AGS) which is focused on community service and academic excellence.
CARP joined the service to beautify Chabot and to connect with other clubs on campus.
As a group, we split the garden into sections to weed and taking out the unnecessary plants that were taking over the area. We worked in spite of the cold, both with our hands and with tools. One of the professors came out and taught us more about gardening and about the importance of preparing the soil to provide the most nutrients for vegetables. We planted buckwheat and sweet pea to enrich the soil in preparation for growing.
Each club got their own location to plant. This project will be a continuing one throughout the year as we continue to take care of the garden, both in preparation and in planting.
Just as garden care takes a lot of time and investment in all areas such as nourishment and preparing the soil, planting seeds, watering and attending the garden, our relationships are the same. Through this project we hope to build and strengthen our relationships within our community and become a positive impact on our campus.
Check out more from CARP Bay Area on their Facebook page.
Got a chapter story to share? Send it to jennifer@carplife.org or submit it through this form!