Second-Year Students Plant MSR Garden

The raised beds have been prepared and the plants are now settling in at the Medical Student Residence (MSR) summer garden! Thanks to the efforts of second-year students Sara Khattab and Sean Wang Pong Chan, an assortment of greens and vegetables, including beefsteak and cherry tomatoes, red and green bell peppers, beans, cilantro, basil, mint, dill, oregano, cucumbers, butternut squash, kale, romaine lettuce and eggplant have been planted in nine raised beds.

The goal of the garden is to enable students to cook and eat what is grown. They are encouraged to visit and help weed and harvest throughout the summer.

“The garden is a great opportunity to pay it forward and welcome our new students,” said Karen Antman, MD, BUMC Provost and BUSM Dean. “Current students plant the garden and incoming students reap its harvest.”

Some of the produce will be used to supply Eat to Treat, a six-week seminar offered at Boston Medical Center’s Teaching Kitchen focused on integrating nutrition and diet education through cooking and counseling techniques. Throughout the seminar medical students learn about various types of diets to recommend to patients suffering from chronic illnesses.

“Sean and I are actually good friends from undergrad. I saw the MSR garden as a chance to spend some more time outside and I missed gardening back home with my dad so I thought that this experience would be fun! Overall we have been so grateful for the opportunity to take care of the MSR garden, and it has been so nice to be able to literally get our hands dirty,” said Khattab.