A new garden on the campus of Pellissippi State Community College’s Hardin Valley Campus will serve as a place for student volunteers to learn about gardening and healthy food, as well as provide produce for the school’s food pantry.
Students at Pellissippi State College now have access to a firsthand look at the process of growing food, thanks to the school’s new garden. The garden is growing vegetables for the school’s food pantry, and is set to grow collards, carrots, lettuce, and kale. The garden plot can be found on the Hardin Valley Campus.
Pellissippi State Community College garden specialist April Ellis was quoted by WATE on the current state of the garden, saying, “We have a whole bed of carrots that I could harvest right now to eat but we are going to leave them there, that way I’ve got food to harvest for students come January and February.”
Ellis also talked about how, though it may be surprising to some, it is possible to adequately prepare a garden to thrive during the winter. She is working to keep the garden productive during what is normally considered its quiet season. Ellis said, “We’re really trying to grow and produce food at the edges of the season, so we have to get really creative with our planting plan, our vegetable varieties, and our harvest schedule.”
Students can volunteer to help Ellis dig, plant, and harvest the plants that will fill the campus food pantry.
Ellis talked about her job as Pellissippi State Community College’s garden specialist as a dream made reality: “I am very passionate about food insecurity and coming up with solutions for it. Everybody deserves fresh, healthy vegetables, so growing for the pantry is a joy,” she said.
She wants the campus garden to be able to provide healthy food for the students so that they can learn to often choose nutritious food and take control of their wellness.
She also spoke on the importance of gardening as a healthy activity, saying, “Being outside is wonderful for reducing our cortisol levels. It’s wonderful for your mental health, your physical health, and habits and things that you learn inside of the garden tend to follow people outside of the garden space. So, growing a vegetable, working with vegetables may encourage people to eat more vegetables once they get home.”
There are future plans to include seating and an expansion to the plot.
More information about Pellissippi State Community College can be found at the school’s website.