Veggielution

Today my homework took me off campus and into a whole new world. I am no foreigner to gardening and I have been around very small scale farms before, but I have never been or seen anything quite like Veggielution.

Even though I am only a junior I am working my senior journalism capstone this year for my communication degree (a capstone is much like a senior thesis. Next year I will do a different senior project for my environmental studies degree). I am writing about the growing food movement in Santa Clara County, and my research quickly led me to Veggielution, a community farm in San Jose.

Veggielution began it’s journey in 2007 in four backyards with San Jose State students. Since then it has grown into a farm on 2.5 acres. The land is used to produce crops that are low cost or free to the community, educate people about gardening/farming, and serve as a beautiful space for people to relax and connect with the nature and people around them.

I spent the morning weeding and thinning out recently planted carrot beds with about 7 other people, while about 40-50 other people did other jobs elsewhere. It was wonderful to get outside (before the sun got too hot) and meet some new people. It feels great to know that although I didn’t do an extreme amount of work, someone will enjoy the carrots I carefully selected and weeded.

I’m falling in love with my capstone project, and I can’t wait to visit more incredible places like Veggielution.