Esther Granger went about establishing her first backyard garden this spring with thrift.
The 2x10s and wood screws for the 4’ x 8’ raised bed cost her $23. She spent another $20 on sacks of cow manure, compost, and garden soil. She made a composter from an $11 plastic barrel she bought at the flea market, and bought two more barrels for a rainwater collection system that came in for around $84.
The tomato, okra, lettuce, and chile seeds she started January 16 will be ready for planting March 15 in a lasagna garden, a layered no-dig garden.
Granger’s brother Jaime García, a Zapata County grower of fresh produce and a Laredo Farmers Market vendor, helped her with the construction of the wooden bed and with layering it — first with cardboard at the bottom of the bed, then with leaves followed by a layer of grass clippings and a top layer of manure, compost, and garden soil.
The un-composted layers of organic matter will eventually “cook” or break down, adding vital nutrients and a good texture as they decompose.
According to a site called The Spruce, any organic matter can become part of a lasagna garden, including those Granger used, as well as coffee grounds, vegetable and fruit scraps, tea leaves and tea bags, weeds that haven’t gone to seed, shredded newspaper, spent blooms, and peat moss.
Esther Granger is adventurous about what she attempts to grow, recently finding success growing lemon trees from seed by first scarifying them. She has plans to utilize some of the beds in her garden to cultivate squash and cucumbers.
She said she has learned a great deal about gardening as a member of the Laredo Public Library Gardening Club. Reading Landscaping with Edible Plants in Texas by Cheryl Beesley, she said, was a motivation to design and plant her own garden this spring.
Her interest in fresh, healthy food includes cooking and canning sour orange marmalades and pickling okra with dill and okra from Jaime’s larger scale garden in Zapata. She also produces herbal seasonings like basil salt and lemon dill salt.
Granger and Jaime are not strangers to gardening. They grew up enjoying the bounty of a family garden with their parents Oscar and Angela García at their ranch nine miles south of Zapata, a garden that brought corn, squash, beans, tomatoes, and watermelons to the table.
A few months from now Granger, a retired City of Laredo compliance officer, will be enjoying the healthy, fresh food successes she raised from seed.
