The Concordia Heritage Garden is a student-maintained five-acre garden for produce, education, research and beekeeping. With a mission of leadership, learning and service, the Heritage Garden provided a landscape for students to cultivate during CU Serves.

According to their website, the garden, established in 2013, “consists of a 40-bed community garden, greenhouse, 30-tree fruit and nut orchard, apiary, prayer garden, and spaces devoted to the cultivation of native Southern California plants. The Heritage Garden is directed by Tyler Zarubin who holds an M.Sc. in Zoology and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology.”

Student Ruby Sanchez, junior, serves as the garden’s Director of Operations, where she “leads projects, manages volunteers and employees and seeks for improvement in the garden.” 

“I started as a work-study employee my freshman year [and] fell in love with the natural environment,” Sanchez said. “Every time I am in the garden, it is stress relief. It relaxes me being in that environment. It's an excellent area to find peace and think about the ideas you have in mind. My passion comes in when I see people using the garden to relax and enjoy time with their friends in the prayer or the herb garden. I like seeing people use our spaces. That's why we're there to provide a safe space for students to come together as a community.”

The Heritage Garden provides the opportunity for many learning opportunities for pupils of all ages. “We are blessed to be a blessing and one of the ways we do this is through our Outreach program to the surrounding community. The goal of the Outreach program is educating young and old alike in basic horticultural techniques and to provide a more direct connection to the fruits and vegetables we consume,” Sanchez said. The garden also provides the location and facilities for many CUI biology students to complete scientific research.

According to Sanchez, “We start with seeds and allow them to grow in the greenhouse. Once they get big and ready for the sun, we will plant them in the beds. Second, we buy grown plants and plant them where we like for them to be. That’s what we did for the avocado orchard, and it has helped us.” The garden also donates produce to the University’s café.

Interested in working in the Heritage Garden? Sanchez said, “We offer employment opportunities for anyone who has work-study. But we also love having volunteers. Even if you decide to volunteer at the garden for two hours once a month, we appreciate those hours. We try to make it fun, and you will be able to make a difference.”

Find more information at https://www.cui.edu/legacy/student-leadership-old/heritage-garden

Tags: community, Education, Heritage Garden

---

About Owen Milligan

Owen Milligan is Editor-in-Chief of the student-run Concordia Courier, campus newspaper for Concordia University Irvine. Owen is from Riverside, CA, currently completing a BA in Business Administration. Owen’s emphasis of study is in Finance and Business Data Analytics. He also completed a minor in Communication Studies.

In his current role, Owen oversees four coverage areas for the newspaper - campus life, sports, arts, and local and global news coverage. He also works closely with design editor, Ryann Beveridge. Owen and the Courier staff write and edit using AP Style. Owen’s role allows him to interact with community pillars, both students and faculty, in live interviews and communications with the newspaper readership upon publication.

Owen believes in both critical analysis in business, applying data to the newspaper and examining articles closely when editing. Owen also works as a Power Analyst for the community choice aggregate Silicon Valley Clean Energy.

More articles by Owen Milligan