Features

NO SUCH THING AS A GREEN THUMB

February 25, 2022

Joy Scott has been a lifelong student of gardening and the natural world. She shared this interest with her late husband, Gerald Scott. He was a geologist, with a career in mining, but also did some professional landscaping while living in Alpine. He was the designer of Railroad Park, on Holland Avenue and designed several landscapes for highway pull offs along State Highway 118. Joy has assimilated a knowledge of native plants and gardening through hands on experience, self-directed study and participation in learning opportunities she continues to seek.
Joy is a retired teacher, who spent over two decades with CCAISD. She holds BS and MS degrees. Joy is a certified Texas Master Gardener who believes strongly in the philosophy of being a lifelong learner. (Courtesy Photo)

By Joy Scott

Dear Readers, I have been asked to share my gardening successes and failures with you via newspaper articles. My learning path in gardening started at a very early age and continues daily. I hail from a do-it-yourself, self-reliant family farm background where growing and preserving food was part of life’s experience. Having graduated to the Senior stage of life, one of the activities I chose to pursue was becoming a Texas Master Gardener. To become a certified Texas Master Gardener involves being accepted into a Master Gardener Class, which involves a semester-long syllabus of coursework, a final exam and fulfilling requirements for a year’s worth of community service.

I would like to address the myth of a “green thumb”. The ability to grow plants and be proficient in horticulture is not a skill with which one is born. Developing a “green thumb” is largely a result of acquiring knowledge and experience in some aspect of growing plants. A good way to gain knowledge is to identify what area of horticulture attracts your interest and become involved with a hands-on project that provides an opportunity for you to develop your skills.

Research-based knowledge about horticulture is by far the best! Texas has a wealth of resources available to the public through Texas AgriLife Extension. An upcoming resource of horticultural knowledge will be available on March 1, from 12 noon-1 pm in the El Capitan Hotel conference room. Culberson County AgriLife Extension Agent Zach Schafer will be hosting a meeting on the topic of the “Spring Gardening Checklist”, geared to the home gardener.

Also planned is a webinar coming from the Desert Blooms, Ready Set Grow series via New Mexico State Extension Service titled “Spring Veggie Gardening”. This one-hour event will be at a determined date and time soon, keep an eye out for updates.

There is no charge to attend these two events, and everyone is welcome. Please join us for these two hours of horticultural knowledge beneficial to the home gardener. And just maybe your thumb might look a little greener!