Scott Wilson is a master of many things. He went through the pilot training program at the U.S. Air Force Academy and eventually became an instructor command pilot for the USAF, ran airfield operations and flew the KC-135 Strato-Tanker (air-refueling tanker) all over the world. Today, Wilson is a master gardener and president of the Falcon Garden Club.Wilson, who was born in California and raised in Nevada, earned a degree in journalism at the University of Nevada in Reno before embarking on his U.S. Air Force career. Wilson was stationed throughout the United States in his 21-year career, retiring in 2003. After retiring from the Air Force, Wilson searched for a variety of activities. He took classes in oil painting, attended lectures and began playing the harmonica. He then saw a notice in The Gazette that the master gardener program was accepting applicants. He applied; and, in 2004, became a master gardener. Wilson lives in Falcon and has been gardening in Colorado for about 25 years. ìColorado may be the most challenging state to garden in. It is so dry and windy,î he said. ìWe have severe storms in the summer, our season is very short, our winter could be warm or cold. Because of these factors, plant selection is difficult. And on top of that, we have terrible soil.î The soil in Colorado is naturally deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which are the big three macro nutrients that plants need. Overcoming all this is where Wilson comes in. ìIt is all about education,î he said. In 2004, Wilson was the chief gardener for the Galileo School of Math and Science. He built the largest school-based garden west of the Mississippi. The garden is about 26,000 square feet of growing space with a 42-foot dome greenhouse, all built from scratch. It is located at a middle school in Colorado Springs School District 11. Wilson also teaches classes for the Horticultural Arts Society and the Falcon Library. He will be speaking to the Colorado Federation of Gardening Club in Denver at the beginning of April and has taught classes at several nurseries and other venues in the area. ìMy specialty is that I don’t have a specialty,î Wilson said. ìBeing an instructor pilot in the Air Force has given me the instructor ability to take a subject and figure out how to teach it.î He hosts a YouTube channel; and, in 2020, YouTube selected Wilson as ìCreator on the Rise.î He started his channel about 10 years ago, but got serious in 2018.Besides gardening, he has created more than 300 videos on numerous subjects such as how to ferment beets, dry herbs, build raised beds, prune fruit trees, can peaches and make jellies. A soil video is his favorite. ìSoil is my favorite, it really is, because it is just so important.îWilsonís YouTube channel is livestreaming every Monday at 9 a.m. He said he wants to grow his channel, not to become famous, but to help people learn the world of gardening. ìI love growing gardeners,î he said. Wilson said he advises amateur gardeners or newcomers to Colorado to ìstart small.î Start with just one bed or one 5-gallon bucket, but start with the soil. ìTake the time to enrich your soil,î he said. ìThere are a number of psychological studies that show just putting your hand in the soil increases all the beneficial brain chemicals. Spending the time in the garden where you are not thinking about the rest of the world helps you address problems you may be facing in your own life.îWilson started by building raised beds and bringing in truckloads of good amended soil. He said he makes his own compost with organic matter from the kitchen and yard waste, weeds and grass clippings. ìYou can save so much money and not have to buy fertilizer,î he said. Last year, Wilson grew squash, tomatoes, eggplants and cucumbers without using an ounce of fertilizer. ìIf you have prepared your soil, there are a whole lot of plants that do well here. If a beginning gardener is worried about what to grow that won’t die, I tell them to grow rhubarb. Here in Colorado it is a bullet proof plant.îAs president of the Falcon Garden Club, Wilson decides the agendas for the meetings, presides over the meetings and coordinates activities such as the plant sale they are sponsoring in June.Local experts speak at every meeting, and he encourages members to teach aspects of gardening they have learned. The cost is $15 for an annual family membership; the club meets the third Saturday of the month at 10 a.m. at the High Prairie Library in Falcon. Anyone is welcome at the meetings. Wilson said he would like to grow the club membership and get more people excited about gardening. Wilsonís future plans include travel, food and wine. Having completed second-level Sommelier training, he is a bit of a foodie. He is contemplating evolving his YouTube channel into a ìVisit of Gardens around the World.î He is single and has three adult children and four grandchildren. Somehow, he has time to enjoy woodworking, reading and watching old movies. Wilson said he loves to travel for the purpose of eating at four-and-five-star restaurants. To build a more cohesive community, Wilson said it takes communication and friendship. ìStart by getting to know your neighbors and be willing to talk to them over the fence or on the sidewalk,î he said. ìSupport school activities, club activities, local restaurants and businesses.î And he said encourage neighbors to get into gardening.ìA good garden grows where a good gardener goes,î Wilson said. ìYou don’t have to know everything. Plants do better when you take the time to be with them. This holds true in life as well. If you just spend more time with people, your friendships will be better. If you spend more time making your community stronger, your community will be stronger. Gardening is a microcosm of the world. If you can have a good garden, you can have a better world.î
