Student led garden club continues to grow

Remnants of the Kirkwood Garden Club's past harvest remain in the garden 
located at the Iowa Sustainable Village on Nov. 7 . Photo by Jeff Sigmund.

The Garden Club is one of more than 80 student clubs and organizations at Kirkwood Community College. 

“It started as a school project but we turned it into an official club in the spring semester,” said Betsy Borchardt, club president. 

“We’re in the middle of the seeding process right now, with winter just around the corner,” said Borchardt. All of the seeds are non-GMO and they do not use any herbicides or pesticides. 

“We don’t receive any budget assistance from the school; all of our expenses are covered by what the club produces,” said Joshua Reedy, vice president.  “We have two sales a year, one in the fall and one in the spring,” he added. 

“We also held our Garden Light Dinner Night in late September, generating around $2,000,” said Reedy. 

He added that the Garden Club grows flowers, fruits and vegetables. This year club members also planted sunflowers, watermelons and beans.

The club works closely with other departments for maintenance purposes, such as borrowing implements from Kirkwood maintenance. 

According to Borchardt, the club largely shuts down during the winter months, save for the occasional meeting or workshop for learning purposes. 

However, the club is looking into an indoor greenhouse project in order to be able to continue operations when it is too cold for their crops to grow. 

“The carpentry department is building us an identical set of garden beds this spring. We are also going to lay down another flower bed,” said Reedy. 

He added that the club currently has 73 members and is always eager for new members to continue its progress.