Peach Living held a question-and-answer session with Sondra Henley, a Jemison resident and long-time member of the Chilton County Master Gardeners program. Henley is the wife of Gary Henley. The couple of 41 years have four children: Curry Clements, 43, of Clanton; Ginny Hallmark, 39, of Jemison; Michelle Stubblefield, 38, of Mobile; and Kyle Henley, 32, of Dauphin Island.

PEACH LIVING MAGAZINE: How long have you been involved with Chilton County

Master Gardeners?

SONDRA HENLEY: I graduated from the program in 2006.

PL: Do you currently hold a leadership position?

SH: I have been vice president for the 2011-2012 term. I am on a committee that is designing a new website for Chilton County Master Gardeners (CCMGA), and I help facilitate the Master Gardener Program each year.

PL: What are your goals for the MG program?

SH: To invoke interest so Chilton County will have a class each year in January, to educate the public, to beautify our county and to continue education among the Master Gardeners. Most of all, to have fun and to love on others while accomplishing these goals. On a personal note, I have started the process of Advanced MG Training Certification in the field of recycling with special emphasis on composting.

PL: When did you first try gardening?

SH: My mother was very instrumental in my interest in gardening. She always had lovely beds of roses and floral shrubs. I learned at an early age how to plant monkey grass to border those beds. We plugged the lawn area with Bermuda plugs and sowed sand over them. She was an avid Day Lily fan and raised beautiful Boston ferns under the oak trees at her Mobile home. I came from a heritage of farmers from the Dothan area, so visits to Headland peaked my interest in farming the land. After our family was established, I begin to be interested in vegetables for our personal use. So began our history, with fresh tomatoes being the preferred successful plant, and later we added other vegetables.

PL: What are your favorite aspects of gardening?

SH: The bounty that God gives us through a small seed amazes me. It is so simple to give the seed/plant the conditions that it requires to grow and fruit. I am awed that a pot or a small plot of land can feed you day in and day out.

PL: Extension Coordinator Gay West nicknamed you the “Compost Queen.” Can you tell us more about that?

SH: It all began with digging worms to go fishing. Then I learned that worms eat most anything. Then I saw an ad in a woman’s magazine telling how to compost with worms in a plastic container in an apartment in New York city. I made a bin, ordered my worms, fed them and used the very rich vermicompost in our flowerbeds. When we moved to Jemison, we took composting to a new level. We now have three 8-by-8-by-4 bins that we add to, turn and rest. We chip anything we cut down or prune on our property, and we have a lawn sweeper to sweep pine straw and leaves. These materials are contained in bins and used for mulch or to add to the compost bin when needing dry materials. We also find cow and chicken manures, chips and anything that can be used that is free. Speaking of free, we invested in an office shredder years ago, so paper in the form of mail, newsprint, etc., is shredded and then composted. I educate, educate and nag others to not throw away what can be returned to the earth as rich soil. Some people even save and freeze their compostable items and bring to me. I have presented classes to Master Gardeners, homemakers and children on the importance of recycling these important items. Think of it as vitamins for your soil!

PL: Can you describe your yard and gardens at home?

SH: We have a 21-raised bed vegetable garden. Most of the beds are 4-by-8 with post at each end. We use 8-foot cattle panels, which can be moved easily from one bed to the other when rotating vegetables that climb. I have this thing about boundaries. A long row overwhelms me, but a 4-by-8 can be the same number of feet depending on how many rows you plant within it. Organization and boundaries make me feel successful. There is a ridge to the north of the house that I like to plant wildflowers on in the spring, and then flowerbeds surround the house. There are flowers and vegetables and fruits planted together or near to each other, so pollinators will do their job. We like to think we have a relationship with our gardens. We want to be in them, we want to care for them. In return, they give us bounty, a sense of being touched by God, peace and plenty of exercise.

PL: How many hours per week do you spend gardening?

SH: 10-plus a week.

PL: What types of flowers, plants, shrubs and trees do you prefer?

SH: Anything native to Alabama or this region is my preference. It has already proven it can grow in our Alabama growing conditions. We use ACES publication “Alabama Planting Guide” for our vegetables. I like flowers that give you a long growing and flowering season; pansies and snapdragons for the fall, winter and spring; periwinkles for spring, summer and fall. My all-time favorite is the bearded iris. Shrubs that have a mounded growth pattern give you no pruning maintenance. Lorapetulums for their leaf color and the fact they will grow in full sun or part shade. They also bloom twice a year. “Margie Jenkins” Leucothoe is a creeping 3-by-3 broadleaf evergreen that is good in partial sun and shade. It blooms in January and can creep into a nice, short, soft hedge. We are surrounded by trees, but my very favorite is the Northern Red Maple. We have two on our property. They usually do not grow this far south, so the conditions must have been right. We inherited them when we moved here. Each October, I wait in anticipation for their beautiful leaf color change.

PL: Do you grow your own fruits and vegetables?

SH: Jim Pitts told the MG that the best cool weather vegetable growing season is the fall, and he is correct. We grow lettuces, cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, turnips, Swiss Chard, carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, squash, herbs, English peas, beets, peppers and tomatoes. Spring and summer, we grow different peas and beans, asparagus, squash, okra, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, greens, corn, cucumbers, potatoes, Swiss Chard, spinach and herbs. We have two rows of blackberries, two rows of blueberries, three oriental persimmons and two pear trees, with plans to have citrus and native grapes one day.

PL: What are some of your other hobbies?

SH: I have always loved to make crafts and sew. I coordinate “Home for the Holidays,” which is held in the fall to raise money for a local charity and to assimilate local crafters to have an outlet for their crafts. We usually raise $2,000 each year. Raleigh’s Place and Alabama Baptist Tornado Fund were two of our recipients. In 2012, we are taking a break, but plans are in the making for our 2013 “Home for the Holidays.”

PL: What is something people might not know about you?

SH: When we first moved here six years ago, people would ask, “Do you have family here?” or “Do you have land here?” I would answer “no” to both, and then they would say, and sometimes not in a welcoming manner, “Well, why did you move here?” The decision to move here was one covered by prayer and thought out to what our wants and desires were at that time. We wanted to be in the country, south of Birmingham, and be able to afford acreage. That put us in Chilton County. Little did we know that four years later, we would open a business in Clanton with our son, who had retired from the Army, and that (business) would need to be right in the middle of the state, which is Jemison. I say that God led us here, and we are happy we have made it our home!

PL: In your opinion, words to live by are:

SH: Remembering to spend time in God’s word each day; those are the words to live by! My life verse is Luke 22:32, where Jesus was talking to Peter, but I believe it tells us that He is praying for us and He knows that we will fail at times, but when we turn back to Him, to strengthen our brothers and sisters in Christ.

PL: What is your favorite thing about Chilton County?

SH: The people. Or as I loving refer to them as “Chiltonites.” So many have never lived any place but Chilton County. I have never lived longer in one place than six years. I enjoy their friendliness and loyalty to their families and the county.