Keeping Austin thumbs green

Crouching between leafy spinach sprouts and blossoming bundles of broccoli, Latin American studies senior Jacob Bintliff plucked a few pesky blades of grass before harvesting some chard and herbs to cook for dinner.

Freshly grown herbs and vegetables have been a staple in Bintliff’s diet since he began cultivating his own garden in 2007. Located in the backyard of his North Campus home, the 12-by-4-foot plot is now teeming with greens and providing a steady supply of produce for Bintliff and his roommates.

“It is extremely relaxing and therapeutic,” said Bintliff, co-director of the Campus Environmental Center. “It’s just very soothing to be around living things and to be tending things. Some people have pets; some people have gardens. Either way, you’re helping something grow and sustain life.”

Bintliff is one of many Americans who have traded grocery stores’ produce bags for sacks of organic compost and started growing their own gardens. According to a National Gardening Association survey, members of 7 million more U.S. households plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables or herbs in 2009 than in 2008.

In Austin, at least 14 community gardens provide planting spaces where hundreds of Austinites grow a wide variety of produce, herbs and flowers, said Jessica Guffey, the director of Grow Local, a branch of the Sustainable Food Center. The center works closely with community gardens to educate citizens about the ins and outs of gardening and how to start a community garden.

“At this point in my life, I would love to have a garden, but I’m not at a place where I can own a house,” said Natalie London, the Alamo Community Garden’s new-member coordinator. “It’s really nice to have one location where you can build [a garden] and have those benefits and those long-term commitments of a garden.”

The Alamo garden has 25 plots where more than 40 people grow everything from cucumbers and green beans to rosemary and oregano. A full 20-by-20 growing area costs $50 per year to rent and a half-plot costs $30 per year.

The Campus Environmental Center is working with the UT administration to start a vegetable garden on campus. The group maintains a native plants garden, rose garden and planter near the Harry Ransom Center, where it grows rosemary and agave, said chemical engineering senior Stacey Louie, co-chairwoman of the gardening committee.

Louie said many students have approached the environmental group about starting an edible garden but that the bug sprays and pesticides used on campus would make the food dangerous to eat.

The environmental group is pushing for control over two gardens that will be planted around the new Student Activity Center, which is currently under construction, Bintliff said.
Bintliff said the biggest barrier for students who want to start a garden is space. Because many students live in dormitories or apartments, an on-campus garden could provide the only opportunity to grow their own food.

Sam Moore, assistant manager at Shoal Creek Nursery, said that limited space should not prevent students from experimenting with home growing. For about $25, Moore said, students could grow tomatoes, oregano, peppers, eggplant and herbs in basic pots on their apartment balconies.

Moore said the nursery has seen a 10 to 15 percent increase in herb and vegetable sales since this time last year.

Natural Gardener manager Lyda Guz said her gardening center has doubled its seed and compost from last year.

Guz said a 4-by-4 garden would cost about $60 to start, including the compost, soil additives and seeds. She suggested making compost by throwing kitchen scraps, leaves and plant clippings in a pile for about two months, stirring it weekly and keeping it moist.

“The best compost in the world is what you make at home,” Guz said.