Fresh cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, and eggplants are just a few of the goodies ready to be picked in College of Western Idaho’s (CWI) Campus Garden!
On Monday, Aug. 20, Andrea Schumacher, Department Chair of Physical and Agricultural Sciences, was busy collecting summer squash before the start of class. Schumacher received a Wishing Well Award, from the CWI Foundation, to launch a new garden on the east side of the Nampa Campus Academic Building (NCAB) parking lot. Last spring, she cleared an area with Dusty Perkins, Leslie Blackburn, Dan Schults, Debbie Lady, and other volunteers and installed dripline irrigation. She spent the summer watering and clearing weeds from the garden.
“I’m a person who likes to feed people, so it feels good to see students have access to fresh produce that they can eat with their family,” she said.
During harvest, students can volunteer on Monday’s from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. to help pick vegetables or pull weeds. Produce collected throughout the week is made available to students on a cart in the lobby of NCAB.
Schumacher was handing out vegetables on Monday at NCAB. “A lady came up to me crying and said ‘You don’t know how much this means to me, I’ve been having a hard time putting food on the table this month,’” she said.