By Alexandra Phelps | Staff Writer
A vast variety of greenery exists on Florida International University’s own Modesto A. Maidique campus, and the Garden Club can tell you all about it.
As sorghum stalks towered and the air caught a scent of Brazilian pepper, students were given a tour of MMC’s Organic Garden, found just at the edge of the FIU Nature Preserve.
The Garden Club works alongside the Office of Sustainability, which gives the organization access to the Organic Garden alongside its usual users, agroecology student researchers, to make FIU more green and ecologically friendly. Of course, a first step to sustainable change is always spreading the word.
Every semester, the Garden Club tries to host a germination and transplantation workshop to introduce interested individuals to the basics of the trade. This time around, attendees got to assist in transplanting young cherry tomato, eggplant, and pepper plants.
A Garden Tour and Transplantation Workshop attendee digs a hole for an awaiting tomato plant being reached for by Garden Club President Kayla Amzand on Nov. 13th, 2025, at MMC’s Organic Garden | Alexandra Phelps, PantherNOW
“The goal is to create a space for people to come and learn how to plant plants,” Garden Club president and geoscience major Kayla Amzand said. “It’s always nice to try food that you’ve grown… to see the hard work pay off and try it like ‘wow, I took care of this.’”
Amzand shared how she’s gardened since she was practically a baby, and upon discovering her own university had a garden, she knew it would become a great place to make friends.
For attendee Aylie Farmer, a junior studying political science and philosophy, gardening has also been a constant in her household. Gardening at school gives her access to the hobby she enjoys when she’s away from home during the semester.
“Within my major, you don’t talk about things like gardening because it’s just not a part of what we’re doing, and then you come to events like this, and everyone’s knowledgeable and they’re interested in the same thing,” Farmer said. “Some of them are involved in those kinds of more agricultural majors, so they have their own sets of experiences… and it sort of introduces you to a whole other side of the school you didn’t know existed.”
At the Garden Tour and Transplantation Workshop, the Garden Club gave away some potted plants and seed packets to those who answered questions about the tour correctly. Farmer left with cranberry hibiscus and a pack of ‘three sisters’ seeds—typically a collection of corn, climbing beans, and squash—in tow.
Garden manager and Garden Club treasurer, Kaleb Caicedo, discusses the black tapote tree as a part of the Garden Tour and Transplantation Workshop on Nov. 13th, 2025, at MMC’s Organic Garden | Alexandra Phelps, PantherNOW
“It’s basically a mutual benefit,” Christopher Neat, a garden lead for the organization helping visitors learn about the garden’s featured plants, explained. “We get people to come, and we get to share our knowledge and passion. And then at the same time, they get to tell their friends, and they tell their family… the more the merrier.”
The club is certainly getting more visibility nowadays, having a new and bigger statement piece of a garden bed in the Nature Preserve under the Office of Sustainability’s purview.
As the club makes new connections and pushes for further efforts, the opportunity for interested individuals to be part of the change is there.
“Come join—see what it’s like firsthand,” Neat added. “We always table in [Graham Center], so if people want to stop by and see us, we’ll induct them into the group just like everyone else.”
For President Amzand, her invitation holds the same hospitality.
“We want to create a space where everyone is welcome,” Amzand said. “You don’t have to be a student. If you want to garden, if you want to learn how to plant plants, you’re more than welcome.”
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