Check out the audio slideshow of this event here.
After a week of dreary weather, the clouds opened up to show some sun Friday for the strawberry festival and plant sale at Elon University. Professor Michael Strickland’s Garden Studio class had been working on their own individual plots all semester in the Elon Community Garden, raising their own crops and flowers and waiting for this event to come.
Strickland, an English and environmental studies lecturer, has taught the course since last year and this class marks the third gardening class. The strawberry festival, on the other hand, has been held for six years. It initially started as a student’s thesis project but was taken over by the gardening class.
The class held a pumpkin sale in October and the strawberry festival in May. The plant sale was added last year. The plant sale included peppers, cucumbers, zinnias, tomatoes and basil.
After Strickland designed this class, the Center for Environmental Studies took over the garden, and now his class takes care of the maintenance and work in the garden. Gardening students work in the garden outside of class for three hours. Strickland said this particular event teaches the students how to “organize and run a big operation and to raise funds.”
Sophomore Alyssa Baxter, a strategic communications major, said throughout the semester, a group of nine people in the Garden Studio class along with Strickland worked on the strawberry festival and plant sale.
“Our plant sale group within the class has done everything from picking out and ordering the seeds, planting them, securing a date, painting signs, potting out plants, picking strawberries, labeling, organizing and so much more,” Baxter said. “We've all worked so hard along with other members of our class and Professor Strickland to get this together. The members of our plant sale team have worked together really well to try to make this festival a success.”
Many faculty, staff, students and community members came to enjoy the free strawberry drinks and food and to purchase plants for the summer.
“People start asking about it before we make the first announcement,” Strickland said. “I think they kind of hold off buying plants for their own garden until this event so they can come down and put their money back into the Elon Community Garden.”
Senior Keegan Johnson said his favorite part is the community of people that come together. He said he loves learning how to take an area of land and produce his own crops and really emphasize it through fun and enthusiastic times.
“The best part for me is just working with these students,” Strickland said. “Every year they just manage to put so much time and energy and enthusiasm and never complain and work tirelessly and take real pride in their work.”
Johnson said gardening is something he will definitely continue after the class.
“It’s so much fun being outside and putting in labor and reaping the benefits of planting and seeing your effort come together into beautiful dinners,” he said.