Shannon Harney, 2nd year Epidemiology student
This past August, I had the privilege of co-leading a group of new RSPH Rollinsteers in a service project at the Decatur High School Community Garden in Decatur. The garden was started on grounds near the high school as a student service project and gradually changed hands to involved community members. Now citizens and community groups adopt plots in the garden to grow flowers and vegetables, and do so through the practice of organic gardening.
We had about 30 volunteers to represent Rollins and were guided by four dedicated community members in caring for the garden. Rollinsteers provided assistance with weeding, distributing mulch, tilling the soil and planting seeds, and delivering material to the compost. We became acquainted with some of the vegetables and herbs native to Georgia, and how certain flowers are used to draw butterflies and bees for pollinating. Interested Rollinsteers also learned about the opportunities for students to garden their own plots.
At the end, we celebrated our hard work with a tomato caprese salad made with fresh grape tomatoes and basil leaves we each picked by hand!
Rollins Student Ambassadors 