The final Friday of classes this spring gives members of the campus community time to enjoy strawberry treats in the Elon Community Garden with an opportunity to win raffle prizes such as garden benches and basil pots.
A spring semester “garden studio” class holds its annual Strawberry Festival and Heirloom Plant Sale on Friday in the Elon Community Garden with light refreshments, strawberry-flavored treats and a raffle for garden benches and plants.
The festival runs from 2:30-5:30 p.m. in the Elon Community Garden between the Sklut Hillel Center and the Powell House on East College Avenue.
The festival features musical entertainment and activities for children such as face painting, fairy hair and games. Students also will sell heirloom plants for summer gardens, including several favorite tomato varieites: Cherokee Purple, Matts Wild Cherry, Sungold, Zebra Stripe, and Pruden’s Purple.
A diverse array of peppers also will be for sale, including new additions like Syrian Goat Horn and Tunisian Bakluti. Exotic basil varieties return as well, such as the Persian Blue Basil, Mammoth, Greek and Corsican Purple.
New additions to the event this year include a raffle of some student-made garden benches and “basil pots,” large decorated pots with multiple types of basil plants. Raffle tickets are available from the students in the class and can be purchased in advance or at the sale.
The Department of Environmental Studies, the Elon Center for Environmental Studies, KAO, the Office of Sustainability, Elon Hillel, Elon Academy, the Watson-Odyssey Scholars, the Sierra Club, the Elon University Peace Corps Program and faculty & staff in the Powell House are co-hosting the event.
Students are adamant about the festival being a waste free event and encourage visitors to bring their own mug or cup for drinks.
For more information, contact faculty member Michael Strickland at mstrickl@elon.edu or (336) 278-5625.