Last week, the A-State garden and horticulture club, better known as the Garden Gnomes, held a campus-wide plant sale for students and faculty. The sale began Wednesday and ended Friday, helping to raise funds for the club’s future endeavors.

The Garden Gnomes is a gardening and horticulture club that allows students interested in the agricultural field to learn all about plant life, plant care, native plants, and more. The club members build skills through their workshops, also working in the A-State greenhouse and other locations around campus.

Shayla Hollowell, a member of the Garden Gnomes, is a junior geographic information systems (GIS) and precision agriculture major from Little Rock. Hollowell said that the club arose from a need for horticulture organizations on campus.

“There wasn’t a bunch of horticulture on campus,” said Hollowell. “We decided to start a club. We got into the lab science greenhouse, and we were able to clean that up. We have some garden beds outside of agri for food.”

The club is currently planning the design for three native plant gardens for the school. A garden located outside of the lab science greenhouse, a dye/fabric garden located in the raised bed behind Windgate Hall, and a 1000+ square feet food community/student garden in front of the A-State Food Pantry adjacent to Centennial Bank Stadium.

A large portion of their earnings will go towards their spring semester plans. The Garden Gnomes hope to grow and buy veggie starters to plant and sell next year. The club currently works with all kinds of plants, including houseplants and tropical plants. The garden gnomes are a great way for anyone on campus to gain hands-on experience with plants.

Collin Galloway, a senior plant and soil science major from Little Rock and member of the Garden Gnomes said the club plans to use plant sale funds to produce native planting around campus.

“Hopefully [the money] will go towards gloves and materials and fertilizers for next plant sale and more plants, and then seeds for more plants,” Galloway stated. “We all just want to help people learn, but also give the people who already know a chance to get their hands dirty.”

The Garden Gnomes provide a space for all students who are interested regardless of major or experience. Current members of the Garden Gnomes have already gained experience in the world of agriculture.

Mae Whisenhunt, a junior plant and soil science major from Foreman, Arkansas and member of the Garden Gnomes shared her experience and involvement since joining the club.

“My favorite thing about the Garden Gnomes so far has really been the community,” Whisenhunt said. “We’ve been giving our members opportunities to work with plants in the greenhouse and even just in the agri beds”.

The Garden Gnomes’ next meeting is November 12 at 5:30pm. The meeting will take place at the Student Union in the River Room. Everyone is welcome to join and learn more about the world of horticulture and agriculture.

Anyone who is interested in joining the club can message their Instagram page @asugardengnomes.

Categories: Life