Many consider it just a nice view on their way to science class, while the members of Green Club consider it a second home. This summer, the WHHS garden was maintained by a few students who decided to dedicate a part of their break to return to school rather than hanging out with friends.
“Over the summer we grew a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes and pumpkins; we mainly focus on vegetables,” Claudia Celsor, ‘25, a green club member who helped prepare for this year’s harvest, said.
Despite a small number of people working this summer, the club was able to produce a larger and more diverse selection of crops than years before.
“In previous years, one crop tended to do better than the others [and] we ended up completely focusing our resources on just that one crop,” Daasi Afanuh, ‘25, one of the club’s leaders, said. “I’m really happy that this year we have a really big diversity on what we grew [and] how we grew it, even if it wasn’t always successful in some areas.”
Once the summer is over, the produce is ready to be harvested, and the only matter left for the club is where it will all go.
“A large portion ends up being distributed amongst the club members,” Afanuh said. “Take as much as you want, we always have way too much leftover. Over the summer we donate to food banks because we just have so many cucumbers and tomatoes, and all sorts of different things.”
Though the gardening process may seem tedious, the club makes use of numerous techniques, both traditional and more modern.
“So we have hydroponics which is basically taking care of the plant [without soil] inside a hydroponics machine and then we transfer it outside and plant in the ground,” Celsor said. “We mainly try to do a mix of germinating things inside and then just planting the seeds directly into the ground.”
The club always has something in store, even during the colder months when most crops are on hold.
“Besides that we work on a grant application competition that we apply for every year,” Elena Tomassian, ‘25, another leader of the club, said. “It is a competition between green clubs and different schools where we discuss a bunch of different topics throughout the year. If you get the most points, then you win a grant from that.”
Whether it’s spending time with friends, helping out with some gardening, or just wanting to take home some produce, Green Club hopes that all who visit the club also learn from their experience as well.
“I think education is probably one of our biggest things,” Afanuh said. “Honestly, when I first came in, I knew next to nothing about plants. I was terrible at growing them. Now, I feel like I’ve learned so much and it’s encouraged me to start growing things in my own communities at home, with friends and with family.”