What Gardening Means to Me

Throughout the two years that I worked with Our Core and Land to Learn, I have been able to obtain so much knowledge on a wide variety of topics in the field of farming that have helped me to this day. I went from being a scared person that did not like bugs to accepting them because they are living organisms. During the two summers I’ve worked with them, I met new people and saw their perspectives on a farming career path, which gave me insight into their hard work. We always worked together as a team, and that is how we accomplished most of the work assigned to us, such as weeding, watering, planting, packing seeds, and making beds.

This past summer, RadicleRoots participants had different paths to choose from for their summer focus. I picked Row7 Seed Company because they are a plant breeder company, and their motto is to provide a better variety of vegetables to the community. I knew I wanted to collaborate with them when I took a road trip two years ago to their research field, located at Windfall Farms. There I met Patch, a Row7 culinary director who gets to do research and trials on plants and sends data to universities and other companies that also are breeders for Non-G.M.O plants and vegetables. One of the exciting things they do is pick names for their new breeds of vegetables and fruits.

Now two years later, I’ve had the opportunity to work for Row7, and I am glad that I knew the basics of farming from my time in RadicleRoots and was prepared to use my skills. I am thankful for the opportunities given to me as a member of Our Core and Land to Learn. They have done a great job collaborating with other farms to give me a broad insight into the different career paths to take in the farming world. They also taught me that farming is challenging because of how much work needs to be done to keep the farming season going!

Maday Luna

RadicleRoots ‘20 - ‘22