It’s Growing Season
All across the area, gardeners are getting ready for the growing season.
For Teresa Slack, a past president of both the Miller County Red Dirt Master Gardeners and the Bowie County Master Gardeners, garden time is her favorite time of year.
“I love spring. Everything is bloomed out and so pretty. It’s nice to be outside and just feel the sun on your face. I like seeing things bloom and seeing the fruits of my labor.”
Slack got involved with the Master Gardener program in 2012.
“One thing they teach you is to do gardening based on research,” she said.
So many people learn about nature from stories and experiences passed down from the parents and grandparents.
“A lot of time those old wives’ tales are true. But they still want you to do your own research and find out why,” Slack said.
She is retired from the music department
at First Baptist Church Moore’s Lane and her husband, Ron, is retired from International Paper.
Even though they have more time, they have had always had gardens.
“I grew up helping my parents in the garden and loved it,” she said.
Slack believes it is never to late to start a garden. And the best tip for someone starting out is to get their soil tested.
“Get a sample of your soil and get your extension office to send it off for you,” she said.
Plants need the right type of soil to grow in, they need potassium or lime for example and one problem in this area is not enough lime.
“We don’t have enough because a lot of the dirt around here is red dirt,” she said.
Slack and her husband grow vegetables, including potatoes, onions, tomatoes and bell peppers along with flowers.
“We are both retired, so if it’s pretty day we are going to be outside,” she said.
They also have pear trees, peach trees and blueberry bushes.
She encourages gardeners to “plant what they like.”
Canning is a part of gardening too. The Slacks make and can their own salsa.
“It’s nice to control your own food. People worry about what they feed their kids,’ Slack said. “You can control that, when you garden and can your own food.”
She also encourages anyone interested in learning more about gardening to join one of the local Master Gardner groups.
“We love to have visitors. We love to share our knowledge. And we are always learning something. You can’t ever learn to much.”
“Now that I know what I’m actually doing, I can be dangerous,” she laughed.
Miller County Master Gardeners are people from all over Texarkana and the surrounding communities who share a love of gardening, who have a willingness to learn and a desire to give back to the community by volunteer work and by helping the Cooperative Extension Service distribute information to people in the community.
If you are interested in becoming a Miller County Master Gardener, contact the Miller County Cooperative Extension Service at 870-779-3609, or visit them at the Miller County Courthouse, Suite 215, 400 Laurel St., Texarkana, AR 71854. The group meets the second Thursday of each month at the Southwest Arkansas, Rural Electric Building.
To join the Bowie County Master Gardeners, contact the Bowie County Extension Office at 903-628-6702, or visit the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston.