Texas Border Business
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A group of Texas Southmost College students and faculty are working to bring new life to the TSC Community Garden and Greenhouse while providing fresh produce to members of the community.
The revived TSC Garden Club aims to grow food for the TSC Food Pantry, with a long-term vision of expanding the garden and greenhouse as a botanical research center.
TSC Biology Instructor Dr. Melva Avalos’ students showed interest in reviving the club when they visited the area over the summer.
“They really wanted to get a garden club going,” Avalos said. “I agreed to sponsor.”
Avalos and fellow TSC Biology Instructor Tara Hansler are sponsoring the club and working with TSC Physics Instructor Martha Casquete to restore the garden and greenhouse.
The TSC Community Garden began as an initiative between the college and the Brownsville Wellness Coalition (BWC), funded through a 2022 grant. The community-wide effort involved several TSC programs and student organizations.
Architecture students developed the garden’s blueprints, while Construction students built garden beds, supporting structures, and toolshed. Volunteers played an important role by assisting with the planting and harvesting of produce, which was distributed by the TSC Food Pantry to students and community members.
The ECO-MOVE Club was one of the original student organizations involved in the initiative, while the Garden Club has upheld its commitment to ecological awareness.
Watch a video for TSC below:
“They had it going as a way to supply our Food Pantry here at TSC,” Avalos said. “Unfortunately, with the turnover of students and faculty, it hasn’t been in use for over a year and a half now. Our project here is to really make the greenhouse green again. We planted some seeds over the summer, and we’ve seen a lot of sprouting and just want to keep the ball rolling. We’ve had a lot of help from our students and a lot of interest. I’m hoping to generate more interest in our Garden Club.”
For students such as club treasurer Denisse Galvan, the project offers an opportunity to explore her interest in agriculture while giving back to the community.
The second-year TSC student plans to study agriculture at a four-year university after completing her associate degree. She became interested in reviving the club after visiting the garden with Avalos’ class as part of an extra-credit assignment.
See ore images from the Garden Club below:
“I really like nature,” Galvan said. “I find it to be fascinating to see the plants growing and seeing how the entire ecosystem works.”
TSC first-year architecture student Adrian Larrasquitu also joined the effort and now serves as club president. He helps coordinate schedules for students tending to the garden and greenhouse and represents the club at campus events.
At those events, members share information about the club’s mission and demonstrate the plant-growing process through displays such as germination stations, where visitors can germinate their chosen seeds and are invited to plant and harvest in the greenhouse.
“I’ve always wanted to give back to the community,” Larrasquitu said. “Something I’ve wanted to do is help other people. It’s good knowing that eventually one day we’ll be able to help support people that need to go to the food pantry to get some food. They’ll have fresh produce and foods to pick from.”
That sense of doing something positive for the community, along with interactive displays at campus events, has helped the club attract members.
“We have members who have a lot of passion for this,” Galvan said. “They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’d love to help out.’ We want to build a stronger community.”
Avalos said club members come from a variety of academic backgrounds.
“We have students here with different kinds of interests and majors,” Avalos said. “My class that I taught over the summer was Biology for Non-Science majors. While this is not a science club, agricultural and botanical research interests will be pursued, particularly as we move towards exploring the potential for growing medicinal plants, which are the source of approximately 40% of our pharmaceuticals.”
As they tend to the growing plants and work to restore the greenhouse, students and faculty hope their efforts will ultimately provide fresh food for those in need, allow exploration of botanical medicinal research, and create a lasting resource for the college and surrounding community.
Club members meet every Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m., and at various times throughout the week accommodating members’ schedules, to cultivate and maintain the garden and greenhouse. Students and faculty are invited to come by and visit, pick herbs for seasoning or tea leaves for brewing. The Garden Club welcomes all visitors and looks forward to soon hosting homegrown garden tea parties open to the community.
TSC students and community members interested in joining the club can reach out to Dr. Melva Avalos at melva.avalos@tsc.edu or to club president Adrian Larrasquitu at adrian.larrasquit100@student.tsc.edu.
