Promotion of organic production grows for Bastrop County couple

By MONETTE TAYLOR | South Central Texas Edition

Kim Bridges shows some of the bottles of organic feeds and other products sold at the Kimas Tejas Nursery. Kim is cited as a key reason for husband Steve Bridges' involvement in organic production. Steve now serves as president of the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. TOFGA's conference is Jan. 26-28. -- Staff photo by Taylor

Jan. 20, 2004 - Steve Bridges of the Kimas Tejas Nursery between Bastrop and Smithville is first to admit that he knew little about gardening before marrying his wife, Kim, more than 17 years ago.

While Kim has long enjoyed gardening, Steve said what first caught his attention at an outdoor nursery was a tub filled with bat guano! After that, he was hooked!

Today, Steve serves as president of the Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (TOFGA), and is looking forward to the Fourth Annual Texas Conference on Organic Production Systems, set for Jan. 26-28 at the Raddison Resort Hotel on South Padre Island.

After completing his bachelor's degree in geography at South West Texas State University (now, Texas State University) in 1994, he followed Kim's lead and direction and they started the Kimas Tejas Nursery. (After helping put him through college, Steve said he felt like he owed her something for all her work!)

Apparently, it was a great decision. The first year, the two started with five, four-foot-by-eight-foot tables of plants and made around $8,000. By the second year, the income from plant sales had increased to about $32,000, and each year the business continued to improve. For the past nine-plus years, the Bridges have worked side-by-side, making the organic business a success.

About seven months ago, Steve said Kim "encouraged" him to pursue his dream of being a farm consultant, since he was very interested in the health of the soil and its importance in organic agriculture and horticulture. He made contact with Espar K. Chandler in Edinburg, and began work as a field coordinator for the Petiole Sap Testing Program, which deals with the health of agricultural plants such as cotton, peanuts and corn. He continues to work as a coordiantor for the program, as well as working at the nursery, and with the organic association.

Kim continues to manage and be the "brains behind" the nursery, added Steve. Together, they have been advocates of organic gardening to citizens of South Central Texas and others who might stop on their way down Highway 71, traveling between Houston and Austin.

The Bridges feel that everyone should have some interest in gardening for several reasons. They believe that "digging in the dirt and then planting and watching your efforts grow provide a spiritual connection to the earth that our fast-paced lives are sometimes missing." As most of us continue to have fast-paced lives, gardening offers a relaxing hobby that can provide the satisfaction of watching something you plant grow into a mature plant.

They are the first to recommend that new gardeners start small ... like a few tomato plants and pepper plants or garden flowers. Providing the best soil, organically, is the way to go, according to Steve. Today, the Bridges offer everything from flowering plants and vegetables to grasses and native Texas plants. The South Central region of Texas is an ideal place to practice organic gardening, he added.

When he discusses the TOFGA, Steve is a firm believer in the fact that "plants and animals reflect the soil and environment in which they grow, live and develop." One thing he hates to hear is someone who equates an organic grower with a "tree-hugging, Volvo-driving" consumer. His belief, as well as that of the TOFGA, is that most consumers who support organic producers do so because they are very interested in personal health and the future of the planet. They don't believe the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, urea-based fertilizers, hormones, antibiotics or genetically modified seeds is the way to have a successful garden.

The primary mission of the TOFGA is to "promote organic agriculture as a sustainable systems approach in the production of food and fiber; a system that protects human and animal health, and preserves the environment."

Topics covering these ideas will be part of the Jan. 26-28 conference that was first envisioned by Malcolm Beck to support the research being done by the scientists at the USDA Kika de la Garza ARS center.

Most of the people the Bridges have met that are interested in learning about organic growing are the "younger" generation; but Steve noted there are a number of "progressive thinkers" in the older community who are changing their mind-set concerning organic products. Trying to work with "closed minds" has been the biggest challenge.

Thinking back to when he was a "city" boy, Steve now laughs remembering how little he knew or was interested in gardening. Now, it is a large part of his and Kim's lives. And to think ... it all started with a tub of bat guano!

(Contact TOFGA at: www.tofga.org)