“I got into gardening because my mom loves to garden, so at my house, we have a lot of plants outside. We have vines, and different types of trees as well. That’s mostly where my interest in the hobby started. I probably spend around one or two hours a week gardening. I’m part of the Irvington Sci Eco club, and I do publicity. Through the role, I’ve gotten a lot of practice with design, and I’ve also been able to do more gardening. 

Of the plants I’ve worked with, I personally like succulents, since they’re the easiest to take care of. They don’t need as much time and attention. When you’re dealing with them, or with any plant in general, you sometimes have to take off the dead parts. For some reason, it’s kind of tough to pull at it. That’s one of the main challenges I’ve faced in gardening, though Ms. Stone is somehow always able to do it with her bare hands. Another thing is that there’s a bunch of bugs: different insects and spiders. Those are sometimes scary. For those looking to start gardening, I would recommend starting with the easier plants — like succulents.

My favorite part of gardening is whenever I get to see the Irvington garden pet lizard, a bearded dragon. His name is William, and he’s really cute. Recently in the gardening club, we’ve been cleaning up the garden, just storing away the potted plants and stuff, because Ms. Stone has moved. In the past, we’ve done a trash pickup, which was somehow fun. I don’t know why I enjoyed it so much. We also used to have some events where we would water the plants, and also rake and clean up. I haven’t heard much about the new garden, but I’m excited about it. Maybe it can be bigger, and placed at a better location. I want more bird feeders, and maybe nuts for the squirrels.

Beyond my work with the Sci Eco club, I plan to continue gardening through service projects outside of school, like tree plantings. And, of course, I’ll work on my own.”