Dozens of students and volunteers gathered Monday at the campus vegetable garden to get their hands dirty pulling sweet potatoes to celebrate the fall harvest.
Some volunteers brought shovels, gloves and bags to fill at the annual sweet potato pull in the TIGUrS garden behind Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
“Anyone can come pick potatoes as long as they are not too greedy,” Art Johnson, who coordinates the main garden, three satellite gardens on campus, and a fifth garden off Walker Avenue next to RP Tracks, said.
Volunteer Linde Brocato, a professor in the library and classical mythology, said too many people have become dependent on big businesses for food. Brocato said she likes locally grown food instead.
“We have become too use to getting food 10 miles away,” Brocato said.
Along with potatoes, participants also harvested watermelons that had been growing for three or four months in a bed along the garden’s northern edge. Some were surprised that picking potatoes requires a little work.
First, volunteers pulled out marigold and zinnias growing in the potato beds to get a better access to the potatoes themselves. Next, they took shovels and pitchforks to loosen up the soil around the edge of the beds. Finally, they turned all the soil, digging on their hands and knees to find, the biggest and best potatoes.
Although potatoes were picked Monday they will not be ready to eat for a few weeks. “The warmer the temperature, the faster the potatoes will cure,” Johnson said. Allowing the potatoes to cure seals in the moisture and allows the starch in the potatoes to turn in to sugar.
The TIGUrS gardens grow more than potatoes and melons, depending on the season. During the summer months, garden volunteers grow such crops as corn, okra, tomatoes, bell and banana peppers, eggplant and nasturtiums, a colorful plant with edible blossoms. During the winter, garden volunteers will plant cool weather crops such as turnip greens, lettuces and carrots.
The TIGUrS gardens have been on campus since 2009. The other gardens are located outside of Jones Hall and by Mitchell Hall. The produce is free to the extended campus community.
After the pull, garden staff will participate in the Tiger Blue Goes Green event Tuesday and the annual Student Health Fair, scheduled for Wednesday on the student plaza.
