The UNCP Campus Garden & Apiary was visited by student volunteers in the APPLES Service-Learning program (UNC-Chapel Hill) on an alternative winter break. APPLES is a student-led program that connects students with communities to foster social awareness through experiential learning. The students travelled around Lumberton and Pembroke for a week of service in rural communities, connecting with groups such as United Way and the Boys and Girls Club.

After a brief (and rainy) visit to the Campus Garden & Apiary to collect seeds from native plants, the students worked with Dr. Kaitlin Campbell to conduct a seed inventory and to prepare the cocoons of native twig-nesting bees for winter hibernation. Thanks to APPLES students, over 60 different types of seeds were inventoried, and more than 125 cocoons were collected for overwintering!

The students spoke with Millard and Connie Locklear about organic and sustainable farming practices, local foods, concerns with GMOs and pesticides, and about spiritual and herbalism practices handed down by oral tradition through generations of Lumbee Native Americans.

The UNCP Campus Garden & Apiary looks forward to spring and fall visits from future students involved in APPLES-Rural!

Article Written by Kaitlin Campbell