UGArden

In this picture, I see a man who is really passionate about soil. And there’s nothing wrong with that–he’s being environmentally conscious by doing so. I think this picture is really cool because it not only captures the compost itself, but also a professor who has spent hours upon hours of his time doing the composting (and best of all, in the middle of explaining the ups and downs of the temperature of said compost). This picture makes me think about one main thing (stay with me on this one): Could you increase the productivity of composting by putting all of your organic material in a blender? That’s what, sadly, I was thinking about throughout the professor’s entire presentation. And to my surprise, he actually answered my wild internal question, albeit indirectly–there was a machine that sliced and diced organic material to speed up the composting process. So, when I look at this picture, I think about the innovations that keep popping up in the agriculture industry. However, I think this particular picture is about something more specific: the determination of one professor to do his part, whether it be turning over the piles of dead leaves via tractor or throwing egg shells into a homemade compost bin away from UGArden. No matter where he is, he tries to make a difference.

UGArden

In this picture, I see hard work and care. I loved looking at the rows of vegetables and herbs extending out into the field because I knew there was so much below the surface and behind the scenes. Looking at the crops made me think a lot about where our food comes from and how it is made. Most of the time, our food comes from something frozen, or it has been manipulated in a factory. The vegetables in the photo have only been touched by human hands and exist under the rain, sun, and stars. I was struck with such a contrast of the wholesome life and growth of the produce on the UGArden versus the hormone-injected items that sit under a fluorescent light at the grocery store. When I look down the rows of sprouting green stems of leafy bushes, I think about the volunteers and others who took the time to plant and cultivate that seed to develop the plant before me. Growing anything takes time and care, and that effort was evident at the UGArden. I think people will see this effort as well when they see this image, and I hope they too will contemplate the origins of what we eat and how organic and natural what we eat can be. When I look at this picture, I feel excited about our capacity as cultivators. With a little help and guidance, we can grow our own food and sustain ourselves using the tools of the Earth. Ultimately, I think this picture is about the beautiful manifestations of natural life and how that pertains to us. We can be a part of it and perpetuate it to glean the organic material like that of the UGArden