Leadership Project: Lori Croghan

My leadership project this summer has been working with Plant a Row for the Hungry. I’ve gotten to spend a couple of Saturday mornings helping collect produce from the Ames Mainstreet Farmer’s Market to be donated to local Story County food pantries. It’s been really great seeing how generous produce vendors are during these difficult times. I’ve learned a lot about how small charities organizations with few volunteers can make an impact.

In the Gardens, a typical day for me would be laying out plants for an area of Sycamore Falls. I read the planting plans to know how many of what plants are needed for an area, then I go find them in the greenhouses and bring them back to Sycamore Falls. Then I follow the plans to lay them out in the correct place with the correct spacing, and the plants get planted! Sometimes it’s impossible to follow the plans exactly because plants are either missing, plants were added, or the shape of the bed changed slightly during construction. We just have to do our best to make it work! Overall, this summer has been very educational for me, and I’ve learned a lot about landscaping in the Gardens.

By Lori Croghan