The Tyus Sisters share about Spring Training
For sisters Alisa, Crystal, and Charlotte Tyus, growing food runs in the family. Their 86-year-old father’s legendary green thumb shaped their childhood ~ rows of vegetables, jars of preserved food, harvest parties every year, and a deep respect for the land. “Our dad is able to grow everything,” Alisa said. “We spent our summers as kids picking beans, shucking corn, and picking greens ~ by the bushel.”
Now, as adults, each sister has found herself wanting more from her garden: Healthier soil, better yields, the confidence to troubleshoot the challenges that come with gardening in their own unique spaces, and, most important to Alisa ~ flavor!
So, Alisa, who has lived in Ferguson for 25 years, decided to recruit her sisters to take EarthDance’s 2025 Spring Training for Gardeners program together. “If I can grow tomatoes and greens that taste like they’ve been kissed by the sun, that was the inspiration. You know, my daddy just knows stuff. He’s been doing this his whole life, but when we ask him for help, he be like, ‘Get out of the way, this is how you do it,’ and it turns into him just doing it.”
Alisa and Crystal Tyus joined us in person for Spring Training classes in 2025.
From the first Spring Training class, Crystal – who Zoomed in for live-online classes from Columbia, Missouri and drove over for the hands-on classes – felt like Spring Training helped her root more deeply into caring for the soil. And, she expanded her garden twice in 2025!
The results? “My best garden ever,” she said. Ten varieties of tomatoes. Armfuls of okra, cucumbers, cantaloupe, and garlic she planted for a 2026 harvest. She even saved seeds. And she’s shared some of what she learned, supporting gardens at the Ronald McDonald House in Columbia and advising staff and students in school gardens at West Middle School, where she works.
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Charlotte’s season looked different ~ full of grow bags, flower pots, determination, and…a whole lot of hungry squirrels. Her garden became a playground for wildlife, which devoured her tomatoes, cucumbers, and even the leaves from her sweet potato vines. Her peppers and mustard greens hung on, but most of what came out of her 2025 garden was more learning.
Charlotte said, in spite of the tough season, she felt her time in Spring Training had been well spent. She learned about companion planting, soil amendments, and container strategies that she will continue to use ~ along with better fencing! She left the season energized and with a plan: Bigger grow bags, better placement, consistent fertilizing, and fencing to deter critters. She even wants to build her own raised beds next year and has the skills to do so, thanks to the hands-on raised-bed workshop during 2025 training.
Charlotte said that Spring Training gave her practical, regenerative methods she could use immediately. Instead of tilling – her dad’s old-school go-to – she learned sheet-mulching with cardboard. Instead of overhead watering, she switched to watering at the base and feeding plants with fish fertilizer. She experimented with companion planting and even built a rotating compost system in her yard.
Charlotte’s new and improved container garden!
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And, all three sisters agreed: What they gained wasn’t just knowledge, but community, confidence, and momentum. Their family text thread now buzzes with garden photos, seed-saving experiments, and encouragement among themselves and their other sisters across Missouri, Texas, and Illinois.
This spring, you can start ~ or transform ~ your own gardening journey, too.
“Get off the fence and do it!” Crystal tells new gardeners. “Even when you think you know gardening, you’ll learn so much, and you might end up teaching others, too.”
Crystal Tyus digs into a mound of soil at one on-site Spring Training class.
EarthDance’s Spring Training for Gardeners is where beginners, long-time gardeners, and whole families grow together. Registration for this 5-week hybrid course is now open! Sign up now for one or all 5 of the online classes. Or register for the full course, which includes 3 hands-on experiences, in addition to the online classes. And, new this year(!) Add-on classes and workshops that will help keep you connected and learning throughout the growing season and into the fall!
Pay what you can to register today at earthdancefarms.org/farmers/spring-training/
