Our Garden at the San Angelo Clubhouse

By: Ruben Gallegos
While participating in Clubhouse Foundations training at Fountain House in New York City, I volunteered in the Home and Garden Unit. In working in the unit I saw daily the wellness benefits resulting from the gardening activities. In returning to the San Angelo Clubhouse, we saw a story in the Standard-Times written by Allison Watkins about preparing the fall harvest. We decided it was a sign for us to get started, and that we would attempt to grow some vegetables and flowers, and to hopefully reap the wellness benefits for our Clubhouse. In planning our new endeavor, we became aware of some challenges:
It was late summer, with regular 100+ degree temperatures, and home improvement stores were not selling starter vegetable plants.
We had an approximately 70-80 days before the first freeze in the fall (important if we wanted to harvest fully ripe vegetables).
The ground around our Clubhouse would need considerable preparation before we could plant.

So, we gathered as a Clubhouse and decided to take on our challenges by doing the following:
With a seed catalog, Culinary Unit members choose varieties that had the shortest seed-to harvest times and could be used in meals.
We decided to establish the seeds indoors to give the plants the best start in life.
We decided to grow the plants in large plant containers to better control the growing environment and water needs. When the seeds arrived, we planted.
Over the next few months our vegetable plants grew with a lot of TLC from Clubhouse members (and staff).
The whole exercise provided excitement and camaraderie for the Clubhouse.
Even a tad bit of anxiety when we transplanted our seedlings to pots outdoors in 100+ degree temperatures.
And, we were successful!

From seed-to-harvest:
Cherry Tomatoes, Eggplant, Jalapenos, Cucumbers, Tomatoes.
And, we were successful!

Our successful San Angelo Clubhouse Garden provided members (and staff):
• a sense of responsibility in looking after the plants
• allowed us all to be nurturers
• allowed us to be connected to other living things
• and allowed us to relax and let go of anxiety