Army Environmental Command member sows seeds of gardening in youth

Bob Blaesing looks forward to the weekends when he can go to the San Antonio Botanical Garden, where he can enjoy the fresh air and help sow the seeds of gardening to schoolchildren who are learning to grow their own plants and appreciate nature.

Blaesing, U.S. Army Environmental Command environmental support manager at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, volunteers his time on three Saturdays a month in the spring and the fall with the Children’s Vegetable Garden Program, which provides youth ages 8 to 13 and their parents an opportunity to grow vegetables and plants on their own plot, which each measure 100 square feet, in a vegetable garden on the grounds of the botanical center.

Youth in the Children’s Vegetable Garden Program learn about the proper ways and techniques of gardening from Bexar County Master Gardeners and instructors from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Blaesing is one of many volunteers who spend their time working and tending the vegetable garden. He said he is proud to be part of a program that teaches children about gardening and growing their own plants while instilling an appreciation of the environment to them.

“It’s a great reward knowing you are passing on the knowledge of sustainable gardening and practices in environmental stewardship to them,” Blaesing said. “When they plant something and it grows, you get to see that sense of accomplishment and reward on their faces.”

Blaesing’s involvement with the San Antonio Botanical Garden started in November 2015 when he was looking for a place to compost coffee grounds and fruit peels put in a container he set up in the break room used by members of the Army Environmental Command.

“I looked at places to take the compost to and the botanical garden came to my mind,” he said.

When Blaesing contacted the botanical garden, he was put in touch with Nadezhda Garza, San Antonio Botanical Garden volunteer coordinator.  Garza told him the compost from the Army Environmental Command break room could be put to good use to help fertilize the vegetable garden.

As Blaesing brought the compost to the botanical gardens, he learned about the Children’s Vegetable Garden Program from Garza and decided to help out and become a volunteer.

Garza said the Children’s Vegetable Garden Program has two growing seasons, from February to June and August to December. During each growing season, children, parents and volunteers work in the vegetable garden every Saturday morning for three to four hours.

Currently, 45 children are participating in the program during the spring growing season. Since the botanical garden is located near JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Garza said some of the children and parents who help tend the vegetable garden are military families.

“It’s a good way for kids to come out and bond with their families,” Garza said. “We encourage the kids and parents to put away their cell phones and unplug for that time in the garden.”

The vegetable garden, which was established in 1983 by Brig. Gen. Dave Thomas and members of the San Antonio Men’s Garden Club, is one of the nation’s oldest youth vegetable teaching gardens. The garden consists of 53 plots for children and families and vegetables and plants are grown organically. Vegetables and plants grown in the garden include tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, ornamental annual flowers and herbs.

Garza said the children and their families get to take home the produce they grow.

Blaesing said he is new to gardening and that he has learned a lot by volunteering and working alongside the Bexar County Master Gardeners.

“I’m an eager student,” he said. “This is an incredible opportunity to learn from the master gardeners.”

Blaesing said he enjoys gardening because it gives him a chance to be outdoors and in nature.

“It gives me a chance to be connected with the earth,” he said.

Blaesing continues to contribute to the compost efforts of the vegetable garden, providing an average of 40 to 50 pounds per month from coffee grounds and fruit peels his work colleagues throw into the container in the Army Environmental Command breakroom.