USF Garden Project

Last Friday’s field trip to Brooks Park and Quesada Garden was rather refreshing.  It was nice to see two gardens thriving that had been kept by groups who didn’t have a whole lot of knowledge about gardening.  The whole trip gave me more confidence about starting my own garden sometime in the future when I have a space to.

    The trip to Brooks Park was a bit nerve wracking due to the smoke that began billowing out of our van on the way, but the smoking eventually stopped and it made getting there just as sweet.  The man who took care of most of the park was very energetic and enthusiastic about the park and garden.  His happy-go-lucky approach to maintaining and growing there was echoed by the great wilderness area and thriving garden, as everything there seemed full of natural life.  So far, Brooks Park is my first choice for an internship next year during the spring semester.

      Next, we went to Quesada Garden.  The small median strip garden was in a pretty sketchy neighborhood, however, the garden was bursting with green life that seemed to shine in the middle of a concrete area.  It was amazing how such a simple thing, such as this garden, was able to bring together such an isolated community.  Similar to Alemany Farm, it provided an alternative activity for at-risk youth that would be great to see in more underprivileged neighborhoods.

-Ryan Johnson

For more information on Brooks Parks, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suS7-yqw9jI and for Quesada Gardens check out http://quesadagardensblog.blogspot.com/