On Friday, Jan. 13, the Environmental Club visited the school’s garden to plant tomatoes and work on the garden after the club meeting. Every two weeks, members volunteer to help the garden by pulling weeds and planting new vegetables.

The club started the garden in December by cleaning it up and soiled it. So far, they have focused on planting easy vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, cilantro and scallions. This week, however, the club focused on growing tomatoes in hope of providing the culinary department with one of their most used vegetables.

“We wanted to try and cater as much tomatoes as we can to them since tomatoes are easy to grow and last for the whole year,” club sponsor Marc Pooler said.

Pooler started growing the tomatoes underneath a growing lamp where he could control the environment and temperature. Then, club members transported them to the garden.

Six full-sized tomato plants were harvested, and the club expects them to be fully grown within six weeks and produce until June. After this, the club plans on sharing the garden and its products with the culinary department and prepare meals for the club’s own enjoyment.

The purpose of the school’s garden and planting vegetables is to teach members the correct way to take care of a garden and encourage them to start their own gardens.

“Only 20 percent of the US population grows any type of food for themselves, and our hope is to get them to be a part of that percentage,” Pooler said. “By being part of that percentage, their outlook on food and their choices will completely change.”

The club plans on taking care of the growing vegetables after every meeting by checking up on them and removing weeds.