Tuesday, October 9 brought with it sun and warmth–conveniently, two ingredients needed for a successful and first-ever “Plot Party,” hosted by Bates College’s EcoReps. The Plot Party, located on Russell Street, attracted over 50 Bates students to stop by and enjoy the two-and-a-half-hour event.
For first-time Plot goers, walking up the dirt-path road and coming upon the Plot Party was like arriving at an environmental sanctuary. There was a buzz at the party which was not exclusively a product of the insects: Bates students flocked around the appetizers which included fresh tomatoes and mozzarella and chips and salsa, enjoyed acapella music performed by the Bates Crosstones, and took in the beautiful serenity of the evening.

The Plot, once an acre and a half of unused and overgrown college land, has recently become a cornucopia of vegetation thanks to the work of Bates students, notably seniors Katharine Gaillard and Isa Moise.
When asked about the planning of this event, Gaillard and Moise gave no hesitation to credit the EcoReps.

“This was a product of all of the EcoReps, which is why this is really awesome,” Gaillard said, with Moise agreeing, “We are standing on a lot of shoulders.”
Gaillard continued: “We are coming to the end of our summer harvest, and our plants from the summer which were the summer squash, cucumbers and tomatoes are all winding down in what they are producing for us, so the thought was to have people out here before that is done. We are also now just starting our fall crops, so the Plot Party is sort of sitting between the end of the summer and the beginning of fall. I think celebrating that was a big part of it.”

Moise said she hopes this event will get students familiar with the Plot and get students excited about the opportunities the Plot can offer. She said, “There is a lot of work to be done here and we want people to be as excited about this space as we are. This space can look like what we want it to look like. We have a lot of collaboration with Commons and that is really cool because we can impact what the student body is eating and help to diversify their palettes.”
Commons uses all of the food that the Plot offers. Gaillard said she hopes that one day the food cultivated from the Plot will be the main source of food Batsies consume.

“The dream is that the Plot becomes a farm that fully supplies Commons. So if anyone wants to get involved, this is the time to do it because this is the time you can directly impact where it goes from here.”
Due to the success of the event, Gaillard and Moise predict there will be more Plot Parties in the future and are very hopeful that their hard work will continue to be fruitful.