Fort Hays State Univerity Marketing and Relations

Sixty miles south of Hays, students and Jean Gleichsner, recently retired associate professor of agriculture from the Department of Agriculture Home Horticulture class, dedicated their time to a service-learning project at the Larned Pride community garden and orchard and at Schnack-Lowery Park.

At the garden, students planted potatoes and tomatoes into the ground and flowers and other vegetables into raised garden beds. They also painted display stands in a nearby shelter area.

In the orchard, students pruned apple and cherry trees and cut back grape and blackberry vines. They also loaded bags of mulch onto a small front-end loader for transportation to the orchard, where they mulched around the blueberry bushes and grapevines.

At the park, a couple students changed the oil in the John Schnack Express train that circles the playground, while four others replaced wood beams that support the track. Others put a base coat on the train tunnel in the preparation of a mural that a local artist will paint.

“This service-learning project allows students to integrate community service activities into academic curriculum,” Gleichsner said.

The community garden and orchard were created in 2009 by a group of Larned residents with a mission to create a better environment and to enhance the health for those in Pawnee County and the surrounding area.