Student organizations, departments and students gathered Oct. 3 to learn, grow and garden at the Community Garden Planting event for the fall season kickoff on the Edinburg campus.
Roberto Cantu, UTRGV executive director of Auxiliary Business Services and program coordinator, said different organizations from the Edinburg campus attended the event to adopt a bed at the community garden and different departments did as well.
“We’ve got other people on campus that have gone home and converted their entire backyard,” Cantu said. “[They have] taken out St. Augustine grass, added compost from the City of McAllen, and they’ve got beautiful gardens that produce a lot of vegetables for them.”
After representatives of each student organization filled out forms for the adoption of a bed, Agricultural Specialist Cruz Salinas conducted a presentation on the rules of the garden, as well as planting basics.
“It’s a crash course on home gardening,” Cantu said. “We want individuals from the different student organizations to be able to learn how to raise their own vegetables and be able to share that information [with] other individuals.”
Students, staff and faculty at the event planted a variety of jalapeños, tomatoes, cabbage and celery, which were provided by Tropical Star, a plant nursery in Hidalgo, in their respective beds.
“We were hoping to get some kale and some other winter vegetables but the producer didn’t have them available,” Cantu said. “[Tropical Star has] been very steady and dedicated supporters of the community garden. It’s through … partnerships that we have here in the community [that help] us provide this type of programming for our students.”
He said one of the overarching rules is no one using any type of chemicals in the garden, since a USDA-certified organic research garden is adjacent to the community garden on campus.
“That’s a really tough designation to attain and we want to make sure that we’re not in any way, shape or form, negatively impacting our neighbors,” Cantu said.
He said all plants not utilized during the kickoff event will be planted at the research garden.
Cantu said the plot is the student’s responsibility for both the fall and spring semesters.
He said during the spring semester, they plant watermelons, cantaloupes, and other similar produce; however, not much is done at the community garden during the summer.
“We feel that it’s something that’s really important, growing your own vegetables and incorporating them into a healthy diet,” Cantu said. “We believe that the community garden is just one small component in helping improve the health of the Rio Grande Valley.”
Cassandra Vasquez, a biology junior, and Valerie Tobias, a biomedical science sophomore, attended the event for fun, despite not being part of a student organization.
“We’re really excited,” Vasquez said. “I’ve actually been wanting to grow some plants at my house, but I don’t have space, and Valerie also. So, this is our outlet for our creative juices.”
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