Odessa College Garden

Odessa College Pantry Garden

Photo:  Emmy Ulmschneider

By Emmy Ulmschneider and Debbie Roland, Master Gardeners

End the 2024 gardening year by planning for vegetable gardening in 2025.  You can get new ideas by visiting gardens online or by visiting public gardens in person.  There are public gardens in our area that showcase the best vegetable gardening practices for our arid area and teach and showcase best practices.  One of the best examples is the Odessa College Wrangler Food Pantry which gives back by providing fresh produce to students.

Established in 2021, the Atmos Energy Pantry Gardens at Odessa College produce food and educational experiences for students and volunteers alike.  The gardens were created to decrease food insecurity by growing fresh, quality, local vegetables for the Wrangler Food Pantry.  The 270 square foot Main Garden was such a success that in 2023, ground was broken for the Globe growing space of 207 square feet. Both gardens showcase best practices for intensive food production in a limited space, a perfect fit for your own backyard.   Food production has grown each year, and the gardens have become a teaching platform for students and the public.  This success sets the stage for future dreams including fruit trees and perhaps, revitalizing the old greenhouse as well as developing a future nutrition program.   

So, how do you measure success?  The gardens produce both spring and fall crops.  Since the garden’s inception, out of 477 square feet, the garden has produced 2277.64 pounds of produce!  In the summer of 2024, the gardens produced 597.92 pounds of produce from greens, squash, beans, onions, and sweet potatoes.   The largest fall 2024 crops included 269 pounds of carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, and broccoli.  But you can’t measure education and health value in pounds.  Students and the public alike can experience firsthand the importance and benefits of local food production from healthy eating practices to the serenity of a garden.   

To that end, in October 2024, Ogallala Commons hosted the fall Permian Basin Foodshed Field Day at Odessa College.  For more information about the event, see  https://www.firstalert7.com/2024/10/16/ogallala-commons-hosts-foodshed-field-day-promote-local-sustainable-food/

What can you take away from a visit to the Atmos Energy Pantry Gardens?  Both gardens showcase the best practices for an intensive planting method to give you the ultimate yield from a small space throughout the year.  After a visit, start your own planning by researching what you need to know.  Use that knowledge to locate the best site, prepare the soil and site including drip irrigation, row covers and shade cloth, and plant a diversity of crops.   Knowing what is possible, start your planning and research for a perfect year-round garden.  Previously we have written about the use of garden covers, gardening in containers, planting times, and hot weather crops.  Begin slowly and plan on change.  Know that each year you grow, you will be given the gift of the freshest, healthiest produce possible and all the mental benefits that come with being outside in the garden! 

If you have questions, call the AgriLife office in Odessa at 498-4071 or in Midland at 686-4700.   Additional information, and our blog for access to past articles, is available at westtexasgardening.org.  Click on “Resources”.