It's amazing what you can find when on an adventure with friends around UNM's campus. Did you know that the University has it's own garden?! Yeah me either..
It’s hard for me to put into words what I was able to see at the Lobo Garden. It was truly unlike anything that I was expecting. To begin, I was trying to formulate an idea as to what I was going to see once my group had made it over to the Pollinator Garden. As we walked through campus toward UNM I was imagining something much smaller after viewing the garden in Hokona courtyard, and I was totally underestimating the capabilities of the UNM Gardner’s to have a garden that is upkept like this one. It didn’t seem like much, but with a closer look there were so many things to look at and view in the garden. I cannot believe the variety of plants that are all being grown in a localized area, you think it, and they can plant it (for the most part).
There are many things that me and my group members will be able to do to contribute to the continued success of this garden on UNM’s campus. We decided that in between planters, there is weeding that needs to be done to keep the space clean and to have a workable area. Other weeding must be done within the planted section but, will have to be identified with great detail to ensure that it is weeds that we are weeding and not plants. The plants at the time also seemed to be dry, watering will be necessary for the plants to finish out the season before autumn arrives.
As we started playing in the dirt, digging up weeds and clearing out space for the location of our plants, I was thinking about what an amazing project that we were taking part in. There were vast amounts of labor and hours put into the creation of a space on UNM’s campus like this. I felt the moisture of the soil on my hands and watched the watering system ignite and nourish the ground with water for survival throughout the planters. This was extremely interesting to me to watch as all the plants received the water that they needed, the sound of sprinklers. This made it easier to ensure that the plants were being watered regularly without the extra time and labor that would be required otherwise.
After today’s experience and reflecting on how cultivating local community gardens conditions food cultures, I have an overflow of thoughts and feelings. Based on what I witnessed and gained from hands on experience in the Pollinator Garden today I was able to get a taste of farm to table and the culture that is shared specifically within UNM’s campus to create something unique and beautiful.
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