I'm always amazed when I mention the Campus Food Forest for the first time in class. Juniors and seniors look around, expressions of confusion on their faces. It's surprising to me you can be at a university for two or three years and not know about this student run brain child of a campus feature. Nonetheless, I am always happy to introduce my students to this totally natural, sustainable food source!
Located just inside the main entrance to campus, near the welcome center, the Food Forest was the idea of a group of students who wanted to start a student garden. You can read the story and watch a video clip about it here. http://fgcufoodforest.weebly.com Our student naturalist once again met us for the tour. Though I reminded my students to wear long pants and closed shoes, several of them wore shorts, yoga pants, and sandals. Kristen, the naturalist told them they will get bug bites. But she was wearing shorts too! Not to worry though. In this photo, she is pointing out a green leafy plant whose ground up leaves make a paste that acts as a "natural Benedryl" she told them. She insisted it works even faster, and demonstrated by grinding a leaf into her hand in circles and then rubbing the extract on her leg. I've seen many people do this in the Food Forest, and everyone says it's effective. I only wish I could remember the name of the plant.
As we strolled through, it was clear some of the students were uncomfortable. It was very humid and very hot. We did get a bit of a jungle feel. With Kristen at the front leading and sharing, I stayed toward the back to keep everyone with us. I had the opportunity to chat with some students. Pictured below is D. She is the beloved lady referred to by he other students as "the older lady." She has great enthusiasm for everything. She tasted every plant Kristen told them about, and kept the branches of what remained after things were passed around for sampling. The guys and I in the back learned she has pet rats and loves to study them as subjects for her artwork. She mostly pastels because it's the quickest she said.
In the next photo you'll see the backs of the choir singer, the guy with the beard who is,not a big fan of nature, and a couple of others who hung toward the back with me. C, the naturephobe, was doing ok. He professed that he was much more comfortable in his 68 degree air conditioning, and we learned he is a chemistry major and likes very controlled environments. Makes total sense. He was pretty lighthearted about it all, and I joked with him about how much he'd grow from the experiences this semester. He laughed.
I'll admit, I was a bit disappointed the tour wasn't longer, but the grounds have been very wet and muddy from the rains, and the heat and humidity made many of them quite uncomfortable. At least they've learned about another very cool feature of their campus, and what a bunch of students can accomplish when they really have the drive to make something happen. That alone is lesson enough.
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