Community Garden

With the presence of growing Agriculture and Horticulture programs in an urban area with close proximity to rural South Texas farming and ranching communities, there is a unique opportunity to establish the first-ever Palo Alto College Community Garden. The Palo Alto College Community Garden will seek to encourage a thriving local agricultural economy which will provide multifaceted benefits to students and residents alike. Palo Alto Colleges community garden will provide students service learning opportunities that benefit the community as well as the student population. Palo Alto will offer students the opportunity for on-campus service learning that still serves the surrounding community through the development of a an on-campus interdisciplinary community garden. The products of the community garden can be used in a variety of methods, including provision of fresh food access to the community and directly to students, a rare opportunity for residents and students of the local area. Equally important, the development and maintenance of the community garden can be linked to various programs, including social sciences and government, agriculture and horticulture, business, nutrition, biology, economics, communications, and many others depending on the aspect that faculty and students tie into their course learning outcomes.

Palo Alto College seeks to develop a one-acre community garden on its campus in south San Antonio which will serve as an outdoor classroom that will be:

A component of the college’s agriculture and horticulture programs,
A space for community collaboration focused on healthy food access, education, and entrepreneurism, and
A site for on-campus interdisciplinary service learning

User Group Members:

Ty Chumbley Veronica Rosas-Tatum

Rose Flores Elizabeth Tanner

Patrick Lee

Start Date: July 19, 2018

Anticipated Completion Date: October 2018 (Phase I)