Millersville News
Millersville will become the first predominantly white institution in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to dedicate plots.
RT @MUweather: Last night and this morning, @millersvilleu's meteorological instruments were reporting "mist." Particle concentrations may have been so high that the instrument "saw" the smoky haze as "mist." Not since 2002 has a similar pollution event occurred in southeastern PA. Remarkable!
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As gardening enthusiasts continue to nurture their spring flowers, one Millersville alum is busy managing 135 acres of vegetables, greenhouses and an orchard.<br /> <br /> Erin Spangler graduated from Millersville University in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in geography with a concentration in environmental studies and a minor in biology. Now, she’s putting her degree to good use in a new position as the horticulture instructional advisor for Milton Hershey School.<br /> <br /> Spangler’s work primarily takes place in the Horticulture Center, a part of the larger Agriculture and Environmental Education program at the school, which focuses on hands-on agricultural learning. Students experience many areas of agriculture, including growing natural resources, creating products from the harvests and the agricultural business. Spangler recently began her new position after beginning as a horticulture program assistant at the end of January.<br /> <br /> “About one-third of my job is teaching horticulture-based lessons,” Spangler says. “Teachers bring their class to the Horticulture Center, and we do a hands-on lesson that ties into what they have been learning in the classroom.”<br /> <br /> Along with planning, planting and maintaining the gardening spaces, Spangler also orders seeds, starts them in the greenhouse before their transfer to the field, and she prunes and maintains blueberries and apples on-site. She is also facilitating a beekeeping club while caring for a colony of bees, and she shares that she’s excited to discuss the job she loves.<br /> <br /> “We grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, celery, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, collard greens, mustard greens, arugula, melons and more,” Spangler says. “I try to make sure that we have the basics growing, but I also like to have some fun with the produce. I enjoy having fun-colored produce, like purple haze carrots and green zebra tomatoes. I am also planning on incorporating some cut flowers within the produce fields.”
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