KCCB partners with H-E-B on gardening project

By BRITTANY FHOLER

Cove Leader-Press 

Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful partnered with a local Master Gardener and the Copperas Cove H-E-B Plus! for two planting and gardening projects at City Park and at the Senior Center during the month of June. 

KCCB Executive Director Roxanne Flores-Achmad said that KCCB has worked with a Master Gardener before, but that person has gotten busier, so she reached out after reading an article in the Copperas Cove Leader-Press about a new Master Gardener, David McWhorter, who also works at H-E-B Plus! in Copperas Cove. 

“It’s actually a win-win situation because not only is he local, but he also works for H-E-B, which allows us to get the plants from there, and is someone that can help guide us in making sure that we’re doing the proper plant selection.”

Flores-Achmad said that KCCB had been contacted by the Parks and Recreation Department about beautifying and creating a garden space for the youth to take care of at the former YMCA building at City Park, and then KCCB was contacted by the Senior Center to add or replace plants in the planter boxes currently located at the center. 

Flores-Achmad said that she came up with a budgeted amount that she presented to McWhorter who then carefully curated a list of plants for the two plantings. 

The Copperas Cove H-E-B Plus! store has a section known as The Texas Backyard, which carries a wide assortment of items not only prepare soil beds but also for customers to plant different things. 

H-E-B manager E.T. Ferris shared that having an employee who is also a Master Gardener has been beneficial for the store and its customers. 

“There’s a handful of Master Gardeners in the area, and David is one of those, so he is just chock full of knowledge to share with customers,” Ferris said. “So, not only do we have the plants and flowers and the items to plant, but we’ve got somebody that’s very knowledgeable about how to go about that, so if you do choose to buy those items from us, you’ll have a higher success rate because David is going to explain to you how to do it and when to do it and the right varieties.”

McWhorter did just this with a group of volunteers from Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful and the Parks and Recreation Department’s Summer Day Camp during the month of June. 

 “It’s a blast working with KCCB,” McWhorter said. “They’re so personable and excited to help the community and beautify it.”

For the Senior Center, McWhorter said he recommended herbs that could be used for cooking and that would repel insects. 

“I helped them pick out basil, oregano, thyme, and spearmint to start them off since those are pretty low maintenance,” McWhorter said. “We got some soil and compost to bring more life into the old soil and a soaker hose. I haven’t had the chance to go back up there and see how it’s doing, but I’m sure it’s taking very well. A lot of what I helped with I knew from trial and error in my personal life, but the Master Gardeners helped me be able to express how to take care of it better and [learn] that using the soaker hose is more economical and helps with water conservation.”

For the Parks and Recreation day-campers, McWhorter said it was great working with the kids and teaching them. 

“They were very inquisitive and open to learning,” he said. “I asked them who there had gardened before, and it was pretty even between who is, who has, and who never has. They were stoked to be able to plant and breathe life into the area with new color.”

McWhorter added that the kids were surprised to learn that what they had planted also grew wild in fields and pastures throughout Texas and that more care was required after planting. 

Under the advisement of Master Gardener McWhorter, the volunteers planted the best variety of plants that would be suited for the gardens. 

“I can talk about [gardening/planting], but I feel like I’m not a subject matter expert, and the master gardener is,” Flores-Achmad said. “We invited him to come out there to not only help with planting all these various plants, but also being available to talk with the students so that way they know how to take care of them properly. He came out that day with his store managers’ blessings, and was able to not only help us, but also was available to students to ask questions about how to take care of it.”

Flores-Achmad said that she had been told that the kids were watering and taking care of the plants even in the weeks after planting. 

“It gives them that ownership,” Flores-Achmad said. “They were there from the beginning where they would help them build the ground, but it was maintenance around now

H-E-B was happy to partner with Keep Copperas Cove Beautiful in this way, according to Ferris.  

“H-E-B has a pretty big presence in Copperas Cove with our facility, and we just want to be a good corporate citizen and do what we can to help improve the lives of those people living here and whether that’s through selling groceries or whether that’s through helping provide plants and items to the program to help beautify the community, it all just goes back to our core values of making the lives of Texans better,” said Ferris.