Elon Community members gathered together Monday afternoon at the Elon Community Garden for the Annual Strawberry Festival.
The festival celebrated the garden's 10th anniversary with student work done in the garden and at Loy Farm. The event showcased food and flowers, which were shared and sold to festival attendees.
Herbs such as rosemary and mint, and vegetables such as peas, bok choy, mustard greens, kale and lettuce are among the items commonly grown in both the Elon Community Garden and at Loy Farm.
Michael Strickland, lecturer in English and environmental studies, maintains the garden with the help of volunteers and members of his Garden Studio Class.
He said the goal of the course is to "foster engaged learning about organic gardening, heritage foodways and sustainable plots.”
Within the garden, students maintain a personal plot and communal herb and vegetable beds.
The Strawberry Festival, which is a counterpart to the Annual Pumpkin Festival in the fall, held true to its name with a wide selection of goodies. Attendees ate and drank strawberry cupcakes, ice cream and lemonade.
People were also able to purchase hand-pressed, silk screen shirts with a strawberry on the front. Each shirt featured a unique coloring and placement of the image.
The festival also included booths for students to engage in environmentally-friendly activities. Two of the most popular attractions demonstrated how to make solar-cooked s’mores and how to live a vegan lifestyle.
“This is a really awesome time to be a contributing member of the community garden,” said Alex Miller, an Elon University junior. “It’s a time where people get to see all of our hard work, enjoy being outdoors, celebrate the Earth and can even take stuff home to their own gardens.”
A live band accompanied the festival’s events, providing an authentic and lighthearted festival atmosphere.