Savannah Duke crouched down to the ground and plucked shoots from the plant in front of her.
Duke, senior in horticulture and president of the Auburn Horitculture Club, then dropped each one into the white plastic bag next to her.
"We're going to be selling them tomorrow to game-day traffic," Duke said. "This is our first harvest because this is actually our first garden since we've started the club back, so it's kind of exciting."
After several years of inactivity, the group started again this semester.
"(The club) went dormant for a few years, and with this group of students, we decided to bring it back," said Jay Spiers, associate professor in the department of horticulture and adviser of the Auburn Horticulture Club.
"We're lucky to have all these students interested in gardening and fruit and vegetable production," Spiers said.
Despite great attendance in the '60s and '70s, the club died from lack of interest.
"People kind of lost sight of it," Spiers said. "It was down to, maybe, a handful of students interested in doing things. When they graduated, it just kind of ended."
In 2013, the club has 40 students.
"We haven't been a very active club for the past five years, so this year we're trying to revitalize everything and boost attendance and membership and be more active in the community," said Ariana Parsons, freshman in horticulture and club historian.
The club contributes to the community by harvesting collard greens, beets, kale, three types of lettuce, cauliflower and cabbage for the Auburn Campus Kitchens project.
"Once professors are finished using the gardens behind the Old Rotation next to the Hill dorms, they let students take their plants home," Parsons said.
The Horticulture Club harvests food from its own winter garden and from gardens students leave behind.
Duke said the club is also planning to help install teaching gardens within local schools.
"Once fall starts up, we can get out there and help establish gardens," Duke said. "When it's time to be planting tomatoes, peppers, anything like that, we can teach children and teachers about growing."
In addition, Spiers said interest in local food has grown recently.
"There's a big movement toward locally grown produce, and buy fresh, buy local and knowing where your food comes from and people wanting to know how to grow their own food," Spiers said. "I think with all these documentaries and all these books... people have started to notice."
The club's members said they enjoyed the work they do with the Horticulture club so far.
"I just love planting stuff," said Meghan Reid, junior in horticulture. "I love being able to eat your own food that you've grown yourself."
ChunKun Jiao, graduate student in physics, said he joined the Horticulture Club to connect with his heritage.
"I lived in the countryside in China for more than 20 years, and my parents are farmers," Jiao said. "I feel I have that connection to the land. I'd like to do some gardening, and they provide us a good chance."
The club is open to any student interested in gardening.
The club meets Thursdays in Funchess Room 160. Prospective members can email Duke at sld0017@Auburn.edu.
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