Future is blooming for campus gardening club

By Rachel Woodward, September 3 2015 —

The University of Calgary Community Garden Club have been working since June of this year to redevelop their garden.

The club received a Quality Money grant from the Students’ Union in the spring, which they’re using to help fund the project.

The garden, located west of Cascade Hall, is open to all students on campus. The club plants and harvests fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers, but club executive April Jang says the main objective is to cultivate a passion for gardening and sustainable living.

“What we are really trying to do is get students more involved in gardening. We want to provide a comfortable atmosphere to talk about sustainability,” Jang says.

The club holds an event called Thursgarden from 5–8 p.m. every Thursday as an alternative to the drunken debauchery of Thursden. During the event, club members harvest crops and make dinner using the fresh produce. Extra veggies are sent home with students and leftover food is usually donated to the Food Bank. 

The Garden Club also plans to encourage sustainability through their upcoming collaboration with the Calgary Communal Kitchen. The club aims to cater to students on a budget by providing them with affordable meals and simple recipes.

Calgary’s weather was unpredictable this summer, but Jang says the garden has held up.

“We’ve actually gotten a lot more rain than we usually do, so some plants, like the squash, have been doing a lot better than we expected,” Jang says. “But we’re really hoping we don’t get that snow again.”

The U of C Community Garden Club will run until the end of October before resuming in Spring 2016.