East Texas Quarterly Magazine Summer 2015 | Page 12

Sodbusters
digging in
at Rayburn
Country Club
Sodbusters should actually be a dirty
word, according to the USDA. It was
sodbuster farming practices, after
all, that led to the Dust Bowl, also
known as the Dirty Thirties, a massive
environmental disaster that left half a
million Americans homeless.
But the word “sodbuster” has been
rehabilitated; its original meaning was
a farm worker who plows the land.
Nowadays, there are sodbuster
products, clubs, dances and festivals.
You
can
play
a
Sodbusters
board game and drink a Sodbuster beer while wearing your
Sodbuster boots.
Sodbuster, to most folks nowadays,
means someone who likes to get
down’n’dirty in the garden, someone
who wants to get close to the earth
and grow good stuff.
Jasper Master Gardeners (JMG) chose
Sodbuster Symposium as the name for
their educational fund-raiser that will
be held Saturday, August 8, 2015 at
Rayburn Country Club.
To them, sodbuster reflects the
grassroots values and hard work that
allowed them to build the Butterfly
Gardens, Outdoor Learning Center and
Master Gardener greenhouse at the
Arboretum in Jasper.
Sodbuster Symposium will feature
three garden speakers, lunch, door
prizes, plant sales and silent auction. Only 100 tickets are
available for the speakers and lunch, but the vendors outside will be open all day to anyone.
Vendors include the Bird Crib, Wild Thymes Herbs, the

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East Texas Quarterly Magazine

East Texas Art League, Mill Creek Art Glass, Sybil’s jams
and jellies, Bob Avery’s wood
creations, birds of Pray,
Kenyon Naturals (soap and
lotion),
Smooth
Talking
Stones (silver and stone
jewelry),
Henry
Brothers
Cutlery, Peafield Pottery and
Rod Barger’s Indian flute
music.
Proceeds from the event will
help with master gardeners’
educational programs and
the building of the new
permanent Butterfly House
to celebrate the state’s official
recognition of Jasper County
as the Butterfly Capital
of Texas.
For ticket information, contact Joanna McMurry at
409-382-3096 or call the Texas A&M AgriLife office in Jasper at 409-384-3721. Registration form is also online at:
http://jasper.agrilife.org