Watermelon plants grow in abundance in the garden patio of the 386th Expeditionary Medical Group in Southwest Asia. Col. Reynold D'Lima turned the patio into a garden. Colonel D'Lima is a provider assigned to the 386th EMDG. (Courtesy photo)
Seeds collected from the fruits and vegetables served at the dining facility were planted in Styrofoam containers with spent coffee grounds as compost and kept inside away from the desert summer sun while they took root.(Courtesy photo)
The 386th Expeditionary Medical Group's gazebo and patio before Col. Reynold D'Lima created a desert garden using local plants, vegetation and seeds from fruits and vegetables collected from the dining facility. Colonel D'Lima is a provider assigned to the 386th EMDG. (Courtesy photo)
by Staff Sgt. Patrice Clarke
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
1/13/2011 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- In the vast desert, it's hard to believe for many that anything can grow besides tumbleweeds. One provider with the 386th Expeditionary Medical Group has shown that with effort, determination and a little ingenuity, anything can grow anywhere.
Lt. Col. Reynold D'Lima, along with other members of the 386th EMDG chipped, in to turn a desolate patio into a garden oasis for the members of the medical group, and it all started with an idea.
"I just wanted to do something that would make the time go by faster," Colonel D'Lima said. "I've had previous experience with growing vegetation in harsh conditions, and I thought I would try growing a garden here."
With the idea of planting and growing flowers and vegetation that are indigenous to the area, Colonel D'Lima set out across the base, looking for plants to relocate to his garden.
"I searched everywhere around base," said Colonel D'Lima. "I looked for any area that had some sort of shade and that's where I found a lot of the things growing in the garden."
Colonel D'Lima was able to find desert date palms, desert berries, desert grass and multiple wild flowers to relocate to his garden. He also used seeds from some of the fruits and vegetables served at the dining facility.
"I remember we would be sitting in the dining facility passing around a bowl so people could place their leftover watermelon or melon seeds in the bowl," said Senior Master Sgt. Janet Lightburn, the 386th EMDG first sergeant.
Once he had collected all of the different seeds and desert plants, having them take root in the hot desert sand was another problem to overcome.
"When I began this, it was in the middle of summer," said Colonel D'Lima. "We planted the seeds in Styrofoam take-out containers and kept them inside because they wouldn't survive in the hot summer heat."
After the seeds took root, Colonel D'Lima needed some type of compost material, and with soil not readily available, used the one thing that is easily accessible here -- spent coffee grounds. Every day, Colonel D'Lima and others at the medical group would get the used coffee grounds from different places around base.
"We would collect pounds of used coffee grounds from the dining facility and from the coffee shop on base," Colonel D'Lima said. "With the harsh desert climate here, those grounds are what really helped the garden thrive."
Once the plants began to take root, landscaping became a priority.
"We wanted to have some sort of flow to it," he said. "We wanted to really turn the garden into something lasting."
With the help of Tech. Sgt. Tim Nelson, an aerospace medicine technician, Colonel D'Lima scoured the base for chunks of desert sandstone to outline the walkways of the garden.
All of the hard work and dedication paid off as the "med group oasis," as the garden is affectionately termed, became a relaxing meeting place or solitary location for members of the medical group.
"We had our monthly morale dinner on the patio with the newly formed, landscaped garden," Sergeant Lightburn said. "The garden really made it feel more relaxing."
Senior Airman Rachel Mueller, a medical control center technician, uses the garden as a quiet lunch location on a busy day.
"It's really peaceful," Airman Mueller said. "It feels like you are on a picnic back home. I come out here all the time to read a book and eat my lunch. It's really nice, and I'm glad we have it."
Though Colonel D'Lima's rotation is coming to an end, he has already found other people throughout the medical group to continue cultivating and caring for the garden.
"Our garden is a work in progress," Colonel D'Lima said. "We started it a little more than three months ago, and it is thriving. No telling what it will look like six months from now."
