Page 138 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2016

HOME & GARDEN all thumbs GREEN THUM
Pass Christian
man’s thumb getting greener in retirement
story by Lynn Lofton Rphotos by Linda Ferrill
obert Bourdin of Pass Christian didn’t realize what a green thumb he has until he retired and got serious about gardening. After retiring from air-
conditioning/heating work, he went to night school to take applied horticulture and landscaping and became a Master Gardener.
“People tell me I have a green thumb, but I think I just get lucky sometimes. I enjoy working in dirt and watching things grow,” he says. “It keeps me going.”
Bourdin, 78, always had a small vegetable garden but the size has increased greatly during the past five years. He does all the yard work at his home in addition to growing flowers, shrubs and vegetables in raised beds, but his big garden is at an undisclosed location north of Interstate 10. That’s where he grows broccoli, cabbage, greens and cauliflower in cool weather and cucumbers, peas, beans and tomatoes at other times of the year.
He also has citrus, fig and apple trees along with blueberries, blackberries and bee hives. His challenge is growing carrots, a vegetable that’s giving him a hard time.
He gets assistance from his wife Roberta and children, Denise, Paul, Sonny and Kim.
“I start my own seedlings and then
transplant them,” he said. “I usually have about 200 tomato plants.”
Much of that fresh produce is sold at the local farmers’ market. “Only what I grow,” he notes. “I don’t bring in someone else’s produce to sell. We also can and freeze a lot of what I grow. That’s as much fun as growing it!”
This Master Gardener’s tips to other gardeners for March are not to plant too early and to get your soil tested. “A lot of people start planting in March, but I wait till April — unless
ABOVE: Robert Bourdin tends to his seedlings preparing for spring.
LEFT: Robert with his daughter Denise. BELOW: Some of last year’s bounty.
that sun comes out and I just can’t stand it,” he said. “But the very best thing is to get your soil tested at the Extension Service. It costs only $6 and will tell you what you can grow and if you need to add fertilizer to your soil.”
Bourdin, who also taught vocational- technical air conditioning, worked in the family business that was begun as a roofing and sheet metal operation in 1938 by Adolph Bourdin. The business now includes a fourth generation Bourdin.
138 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • March 2016
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