Many may not have realised - I myself didn’t know this until recently - but Karakura High School has had a gardening club for a while now. It was only recently, however, the long-overshadowed club found itself under new management by a friend of mine, Athy Hayamiya. To help promote the club - support it seems to need, given its apparent obscurity until now - and support Athy, I have interviewed her to find out both her goals and plans for the club moving forward, and her reasons for taking this leadership role.
(LC - Lia Celestiasume, AH - Athy Hayamiya)
LC: So, tell me about yourself. What made you decide to start a gardening club?
AH: Well… I didn’t start the club - I’m actually not sure who started it… I’m guessing it was a couple of years ago. But, I’m glad I became the leader. I have so many different types of plants at home that I’ve grown, though… most of them have died. Sometimes I think I’m cursed, any plant I touch will die in a week… but that doesn’t stop me from teaching others how to garden. Maybe if I pass my teachings on, then I can grow plants through others’ hands.
LC: I see, I see… So, could you tell me about the club?
AH: Okay, well… let me see… The gardening club is about forming a community with those who love nature and providing other students with hands-on opportunities so that they can learn more about gardening, growing food, and where certain foods come from… The club focuses more on the basic gardening skills, like how to plant a seed, or how to foster that seed into growing into a plant, and so on - one of the goals I would like to have for the club is to grow fruits and vegetables to use in our school’s lunch.
LC: I see… sorry - circling back a little, but honestly, I didn’t even know there was already a gardening club.
AH: Yeah, it wasn’t very popular… Hopefully I can help it become more popular.
LC: Hopefully, yeah - it kind of seems like it should already be popular, you know?
AH: Mhm… Especially since it’s something anyone could participate in.
LC: Exactly, yeah - gardening clubs seem like they’d be really mainstream. Besides that, is there anything else you want to add to try building interest in the club?
AH: Yes, I’ve got some things I’d like to say! First, if you are looking to make friends, this is a great club to join since you will be working as a team on some fun projects. I want to implement a watering and trimming schedule, where two members each day will go to the greenhouse and water and trim the plants. I feel as if this is a great way to keep everyone active in the club. I also want to plan a wide variety of events, like working with the cooking club in making food without specially grown veggies, fruits, and herbs. I also believe that growing your own food is worth the wait, as it gives you more satisfaction. I also will bring some freshly grown veggies and fruits to our weekly meetings for snacks… Oh - and, there are some cool DIY opportunities - like using flowers to dye t-shirts. Sorry if I talked too much… I get super excited when talking about gardening.
LC: No problem. It’s not like getting excited about something like this hurts anyone, you know?
AH: Yeah, that makes sense. Any other questions?
LC: No other questions, no.
In summary, Athy’s leadership of the gardening club will offer a breath of new life into a once-forgotten club, and for students to follow new paths they’d likely have not known of before. And with Athy’s plans for the club detailed above - both for students to get to know one another in the club through any smaller, Gardening club-only activities, or through larger, collaborative projects - for example, the plans for a collaboration with the cooking club to grow fruit & vegetables in the school for use in school lunches. With the events Athy has already planned, despite how recently she took over as the club’s leader, the club’s future is looking good - so if you’ve got time to kill, why not keep an eye out for her and ask about the club? Athy will welcome you with open arms!
