The UNcommon Gardener

The UNcommon Gardener

This months issue of "“In the Community”" we have an awesome leader of the Fort Worth, TX community Joe T. Roland II (my grandad) who is finding a great way to get fit, eat healthy, and create without leaving the comfort of his home. By home we mean his backyard where his garden is located. To be able to interview my name sake for the release of Uncommon Man (which happens to be a day after his birthday) means a lot to me. I have always viewed my grandfather as a very wise man who made wise decisions.

In fact if it wasn't for him I would not be in the GREAT Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. I believed that if my grandfather, the freedom thinker that he is joined this organization, surely they have a lot to offer. One of my proudest moments was walking into my grandfathers house (I was still living with him at the time) after I had crossed into the fraternity and showed him what I had been working on, and the look of acceptance on his face when he saw me in my letters. That moment will always be remembered.

Knowing how long and hard he has worked over the years at gardening, which is not too common to hear of it being an African Americans past time, I have always been fascinated with my grandfathers garden. Turns out, there's more to gardening than what I expected. Check out the interview below:

Me: "“How long have you been gardening and what made you get into it?”"

Granddad: “"I have been gardening for over five years. Hmmm, what made me do it? One of the guys at work had a garden, I listened to him talk about it and it seemed like a nice hobby to have."

Me: "“What was the hardest thing about it (gardening)?”"

Granddad: "“Deciding that I wanted to work outdoors, and making up my mind that working in the dirt wasn't a bad thing.”"

Me: "What are some of the benefits of having your own garden?”"

Granddad: “"Exercise! Having things grow that you planted, seeing mother nature at work, and knowing that you can provide for yourself.”"

Me: "What's the difference between your year one garden and your year five garden?”"

Granddad: "“Experience, my year one garden I made a lot of mistakes. You learn a lot from doing. From the way you make your rows, the way they are spaced, to the kind of soil and fertilizer you use everything you have to learn. Just seeing it written in a book doesn't make you aware. It's all trial and error.”"

Me: “"What advice would you give to someone who wanted to start their own garden? Do they need a lot of space?”"

Grandad: “"No, not all. I have a garden right now that is 35X55 (ft) and I know gardeners who use a space of 10X10 (ft). Space only limits you on what you can grow, and how much of it you can grow. Most things take be taken to the space you got."

Me: “"What advice can you give beginners?” "

Granddad: “"Research, research, research. Know what you're going to plant, know how much sun it's going to need, know what type of soil will be best, and know the best ph levels for your soil. Also, don't plant something you don't want. Plant what you want, not what looks pretty.”"

Me: “"Do you think that the African American community is prominent to gardening or just buying their resources that could be planted? Do you know others like yourself?”"

Granddad: “"There are many others. They do it better than I do, and are more experienced than I am. For a community to do a garden, number one.. you must have land. If you don't have a place to do a garden, living in a apartment makes it difficult.”"