Sherry Smith

Occupation: Doll maker, photographer

Place of Residence: Alvin, TX in Galveston County on the Gulf Coast

Background: Sherry has a Master of Science in Horticulture with an emphasis in natural resource management. Previous to that, she practiced speech therapy, but felt compelled to return to her true passion: horticulture. She has gardened since childhood, learning her love of nature and growing things from her grandfather. She currently lives and gardens on an acre and a third along the subtropical Gulf Coast of Texas with her husband, daughter, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and a flock of unruly chickens. She grows everything from flowers and herbs to fruits and vegetables. Her hobbies include hiking, searching for “treasures” along the beach, gardening, camping, horticultural photography and anything else outdoors. She can usually be found barefoot in the gardens with dirt on her knees and face, surrounded by animals of one species or another.

Current Projects: She is currently working on converting her vegetable garden to a series of raised beds due to the flooding along the coast the last couple of years. She and her husband are harvesting rain water with a series of rain barrels set up around the house for use in watering the gardens, and plan to set up more around the property. She just harvested her first crop of Sonoran white wheat and plans to try it as a winter wheat crop. She is currently experimenting with her first small crop of cotton. She is also working on expanding her composting efforts by putting up worm bins. Her fall project will be a formal herb garden, the plans for which she designed.

She frequently gathers local seeds and uses the plants grown from those in her landscaping in order to make the landscaping more sustainable. She is currently growing a dozen seedlings from the seeds of generations-old pines that grow along one side of the property. Her ultimate goal is to be more self-sufficient in terms of producing food for her family, as well as medicinal plants for good health, and to do it as sustainably as possible.

More Places to Find You on the Web:

Facebook: Floral After Hours