Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society
Friday, September 27th, 2019, Marjorie Gillmeister, Carla Harmon, Mike Butts, and Wayne Schirner planted 145 fall cool season crops and perennial herb transplants with 26 people in attendance from the school president, students, administrators and the community to help feed homeless students on campus by providing fresh food for the college food pantry.
The No-Dig Gardening Method
Marjorie Gillmeister educated the community on The No-Dig Gardening Method, Carla Harmon spoke about proper ways of transplanting & the importance of soil temperature, ph and moisture. We look forward to many more educational lessons and hand on activities to build this community project.
Fast Forward to the end of the year!
Read the February 2020 Newsletter
Cauliflower Harvest was a miraculous experience watching the students proudly harvest the prize winning brassica crop all grown on a 12’ x 4’ no dig-garden row consisting of mushroom compost and native wood mulch. The harvest was plenty and ready just after 90 days from the time of transplanting on September 27th in time for New Year’s Eve. It totaled 60lbs., 0.76oz of cauliflower and leaves to share at the on campus Leonard food pantry. An abundance can be grown in a small amount of space to fulfill a growing need for those students who lack the ability to afford fresh food while studying to acquire their college degrees.
Marjorie Gillmeister, “We are a family serving our community whole heartedly at Temple College. It’s been quite the journey since we installed the No-Dig Garden in the summer on June 28th. First initial planting of the garden was September 27th and we received an abundant harvest only two weeks later, fulfilling our hopes and dreams to feed fresh food to the home insecure students on campus. At four months of growth in a small space of 200 square feet containing 7 beds of various shapes and sizes “we have reaped what we sowed”. An abundance of 98 lbs., 0.68 oz of “naturally grown“ greens “without” the use of weed killers, pesticides or herbicides as requested by the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. The No-Dig Gardening method has proven to be a productive way of growing for us, no weeds present, minimal watering, preserving and enriching the soil with beneficial microorganisms and an abundant harvest weekly. We look forward to sharing more with you as the seasons change.”
BCMGA Mission Statement
The Bell County Master Gardeners Association assists the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in providing high quality, relevant, research-based horticultural education and service to the residents of Bell County and the state of Texas through outreach, teaching, and demonstration projects. Read More
