By: Sgt. Melissa Lessard 504th Expeditionary Military Intelligence Brigade Public Affairs
With summer coming to an end here at Fort Hood, Texas, community members still have the opportunity to use the community gardens for a fall and winter harvest.
"If you are interested in gardening, by all means, come out and claim a bed," said Cameron Houser, a community member, and Girl Scout troop leader. "Even if you just want to experiment a little bit, we are not going to judge what you plant."
Cameron frequents the Montague Village and Comanche Community Garden with her daughter Inara. At the beginning of the year, she was not into gardening but working with her daughter to earn her silver badge; they quickly learned about the ins and outs of gardening.
Over the spring and summer, their crops grew wildly with peach trees, tomatoes, herbs, and other plants.
"Fruit trees and bushes require chill hours," Cameron said. "This past harvest we had a lot of chill hours so our peach trees were nice and productive this year."
During the past winter, most of Texas experienced the winter storm, which affected plants growing in the gardens during the spring. Some plants did not fare too well.
"The garden is for anyone to use," Inara said. "You do not have to pay for any of the beds. You can just go up there and plant."
The goal with the community gardens is to get more people involved, get more people using the beds, said Cameron.
"We grow for the sake of the girls learning the skills and learning how to do these things," explained Cameron.
"Our general rule of thumb is if it says it is maintained by a Fort Hood troop, like a Girl Scout troop, then usually it is for the community. Anyone who wants to take from that crop can. If it is not labeled or labeled by an individual family then you should leave it alone unless it is yours."
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