Group plants seeds of change

Augustana students got their hands dirty this Earth Day by planting seeds to fill the new Augie Green garden.

This is the second year Augie Green planted and tended the garden, located on 33rd St. and Grange Ave., behind the Costello Apartments.

Augustana senior and co-director of the garden Miriam Rollason said that Augie Green will provide students with seeds to plant in pots that will be transported to the greenhouse in the biology department. At the end of finals week when the weather is more stable and cooperative, volunteers will move the plants and pot them in the garden.

The garden consists of fresh vegetables with a few radiant flowers here and there to attract insects that nourish the garden.

Last year, a service-learning grant of more than $2,000 supplied the seeds and tools needed for the 18-by-33 foot garden. In addition, the Cliff Avenue Greenhouse and Garden Center Inc. donated 24 tomato plants. The organization applied for the same service-learning grant this year, along with a stipend for interns, and will be asking local greenhouses for donations of seeds and money.

Student volunteers, Augie Green and a Civitas class headed the gardening last year, and 10 to 15 volunteer students cared for the garden in the summer. Augie Green wants to hire paid interns over the gardening care this year along with volunteers. They are also seeking help from a community master gardener to help increase the knowledge of volunteers that are helping for the summer.

According to Rollason, the garden started when about 10 Augustana students presented the idea to plant a garden to Augie Green. The group felt there was a need for student involvement with food.

''There is a lack of connection with food in our generation,'' Rollason said. ''We are so dependent on taking food, and we never take part in growing the food.''

The garden increases student awareness of food, where it comes from and how to provide food for oneself and for others. It promotes organic farming and gets students involved in the hands-on process of gardening plants for food.

The food produced from the garden last year and this year is all donated to the Banquet. This allows Augustana students to give food to the community for those who are in need. It also opens the eyes of students to the need for food within the Sioux Falls community.

''A long-term goal of the garden is to expand and eventually provide the Commons with food if possible, said senior Ian Malloy, the co-director of the garden.

This expansion is already starting with a partnership with Leif Erickson Day Camp to plant on six acres of land behind the Cliff Avenue Greenhouse. Plans are still being made, but Augie Green hopes to use much of this land to increase their planting to a small farm. The plants that are grown on the Leif Erickson plot this year will be sold to help fund the gardens.

''We are unsure about how to effectively use all the land in the best possible way when planning for the Leif Ericson plot,'' Malloy said. ''We haven't come up with any numbers for what we'll be planting yet.''

A small farm could potentially provide Augie Green with opportunities to provide food for the community, educate the community in growing food and keep the community active in the food-growing process.

Some of the surrounding land of the Leif Erickson plot is prone to flooding in the spring, so Augie Green would like to restore it by planting trees and other greenery.

The possibility of helping fugitives learn about gardening is just another opportunity sprouting from the Augustana garden. Rollason said that incorporating multiculturalism into the process of Augie Green's food awareness is being talked about, but not yet being carried out.

''This is a great way to help our community, and I hope to see the garden continue throughout the years,'' Malloy said.