Service Learning Reflection

For my service learning, I work in the Castanea garden on Fridays from 1 to 3. During my time there, I have completed  a variety of tasks.  For instance, two weeks ago I weeded and spread soil, and this week I worked on composting. So far, I'm really enjoying my work in the garden. I like working outside and doing things with my hands. I also love doing something that benefits the community.

I've learned a lot about agriculture and farming from working in the garden. For example, on Friday I tried a fruit that I had never heard of before, and I learned the difference between organic compost and food compost. While it is true that If I were researching gardening instead of working in a garden, I would probably learn a lot, I wouldn't have gained the same knowledge through experience. I never really thought about the fact people grow the fruits and vegetables I purchase. A lot of unseen effort goes into all grown food and I've never really given that much thought. After working in the Castanea garden, I've learned the importance of local growers.

The Castanea garden community is an eco-friendly garden, which means everything that happens there takes into account how the environment is being effected. While we were making the compost container, the garden supervisor insisted on using screws instead of nails because screws can be re-used and nails can't. Finding ways to reduce waste on campus is another goal of the garden. For example, all of the compost that we use in the garden is made from leftover food on campus.

Since I started taking this english class and started working in the Castanea garden, I've become more interested in agriculture and farming. Even though I only have to work in the garden for 20 hours this semester, I'm thinking about continuing my work in the garden next semester and maybe even next year. I think working in the garden is giving me a greater appreciation for food and the way food is grown. I am very grateful for this opportunity to work in a community garden.