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Several MSU students who are concerned about the environment planted a volunteer garden a few months ago and are already starting to see results. KSMU’s Matthew Barnes reports.
Reporter Standup: “I’m standing just south of Missouri State University at its campus garden. There are many different types of vegetables here for example, I see some carrots, lettuce and it looks like there are a couple beets here, which I am personally not a fan of but I’m sure some people like. The garden was started by Jake Berger and several of his. So far though, it’s been relatively unnoticed by students within the school.”
“Our garden is funded by the university with a student sustainability fee,” says Hagen.
Jess Hagen is one of the campus gardeners.
“Right now we are not working with very many people. Not very many people know about the garden so we are trying to promote it, trying to get people to come out and volunteer,” says Hagen.
[Sound: water sprinkler]
On this humid day, sprinklers are hard at work watering the garden’s many basil, chive and sage plants in the herb section. The garden was originally made as a way for people to practice and get hands on experience with gardening, says Hagen. Since the sustainability fund comes out of students’ tuition, anyone attending the university can volunteer at the garden.
Hagen, as well as other gardeners, has been harvesting the vegetables for selling and donating.
“We have been donating it, our crop, to The Kitchen downtown. And we have also been taking some of the vegetables over to Home Grown Foods on Elm Street that just now opened. It’s selling all local grown vegetables and crop,” says Hagen.
This is the garden’s first round of harvesting, but the gardeners plan on continuing into the school year.
“We are actually working on creating an on campus farmers market as well as selling our produce at already established markets like Commercial Street Market for example,” says Hagen.
Hagen says whatever crops are not given away or sold will be used by the students for their own food.
For KSMU’ News, I’m Matthew Barnes.