Photo Essay by Tiffany Liu

Jacob Mass is a freshman Honors student majoring in exploratory engineering, minoring in percussion performance, and pursuing a certificate in graphic design. 

Nothing about his academics reveals his ever-growing love for taking care of plants, but there are obvious reasons why Mass has gained a reputation as Hume’s “Farmer Jacob.”

Take one glance into his room and you’ll understand. 

On top of maintaining a garden in his room, he frequently enjoys propagating plants to give to his friends and fellow Hume residents. Mass will even provide instructions to the new plant owners on how to care for them. He gives a lot of credit to the class “Plants, Gardening, and You” for initially teaching him how to take care of his plants, but he believes that anyone and everyone should try their hands at it. 

“It just feels fulfilling… I never thought that I would have the patience for it, but it’s nice to wake up every morning and check on them,” Mass said. “I like seeing them grow, little by little.”

So, go ahead and replace those seeds of doubt with seeds of plants! Growing your own plants can be an exciting and satisfying experience, and it’s possible no matter where you live. 

Farmer Jacob would be proud.