Charles Bruce This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. SavannahNOW | Retired Bamboo Farm superintendent keeps his hand in the soil - 06/28/2004

   www.savannahmorningnews.com/st - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/28/2004   Last Visited: 6/28/2004

   Charles Bruce is gung-ho about gardening. Anyone can tell that by taking a brief stroll through his garden in Grove Hill subdivision.
   ...
   "Around pine trees you can't grow anything," explained Charles. Growing vegetables (and flowers) in containers also ensures that the planting material will remain free of disease and soil-born insects.
   
   Charles definitely knows about gardening. About eight years ago, he retired as superintendent of the University of Georgia's Bamboo Farm. While working, he and his wife, Linda, made their home on the grounds of the facility on Canebrake Road. When retirement came, they moved into the sprawling ranch-style house on Quail Street.
   
   A native of Chula, which now is "not even a wide spot in the road," Charles attended the University of Georgia where he earned a bachelor's degree and master's in horticulture. From Athens the Bruces moved to Callaway Gardens.
   
   "Mr. Callaway was looking to start a fruit and vegetable demonstration garden," he recalled. Charles soon went to work establishing "Mr. Cason's Garden," a job that required hauling in 15,000 yards of topsoil to cover red clay.
   
   He left Callaway Gardens in 1965 to become horticultural editor of Progressive Farmer Magazine in Birmingham. Part of that job was producing copy for the first issue of Southern Living Magazine.
   
   Charles Bruce shows off some of this year's bounty. Charles Bruce shows off some of this year's bounty.
   
   He moved to Savannah in 1982.
   
   After retirement, Charles started gardening in as many five-gallon buckets as he could get his hands on. Through the years his first 15 grew to 84. He starts by drilling "three big holes" in the bottom of the bucket.
   
   He then mixes one bag (two cubic feet) of pine bark with a bag of peat humus. "I don't like sawdust," he said. "It's too dry.
   ...
   Charles grows his own plants from mail-order seeds. He learned his lesson a few years ago when most of his crop failed because of bad store-bought plants.
   
   This year, one company had a "deal going" with one package that contained a variety of seeds - bell pepper, eggplant, watermelon, tomato, cucumbers and zucchini squash.
   
   He planted his seeds the first part of April. The result is a bumper crop of vegetables that should be ready to pick anytime now. His foliage, he said, has never been prettier. The same holds true for the day lilies and other flowers growing in both his back and front yards, many of which are in containers that he has buried to ground level.
   
   Charles believes anyone can be a gardener, even those with limited space. All it takes is a five-gallon bucket and his secret mix. He doesn't even mind phone calls, he says.