Gary Bomar: Butch Boeshart, Big Country's gardening cowboy

He knows how to make the best of rain

Dennis, better known as “Butch,” Boeshart is quite a colorful character.

As a young man, he lived on a ranch near Valentine, Neb., nestled in what is known as the Sand Hills.

“Whenever we had a rain, you could drive anywhere like it was a superhighway, but when it was dry, we stayed stuck all the time,” he remembers.

The area sits over the famous Ogallala Aquifer, and Boeshart said you could hit water by simply digging a post hole anywhere. Today water conservation, particularly rainfall harvesting, is a passion of his.


A few years ago, Boeshart saw an ad announcing the creation of a new Master Gardener class by the Taylor County Extension Office.

With an interest in gardening and plants, he enrolled. Boeshart found his calling in rainfall harvesting. He also has become a master in the construction of rain barrels, which capture rainfall to water plants. Over the past three years, he has served on a training team that teaches regional workshops on the benefits of rainfall harvesting.

“Rainfall is best for plants because it is naturally soft and has a pH of about 6 and, more importantly, contains no chemicals,” Boeshart said.

A lot of water can be collected from a small amount of rainfall. When 1 inch of rains falls on 1 square foot of roof, it yields 0.6 gallon of water. Therefore, a 1,000-square-foot roof would yield about 600 gallons of water from an 1 inch of rain. If water conservation measures are used, a home could be sustained just with captured rainfall, Boeshart said.

He stresses the need to use other approved horticulture practices to maintain a healthy landscape in our harsh West Texas environment. One approved method is the use of mulch in beds along the drip lines of the home. Certain landscape plants also will complement rainfall capture systems.


Besides teaching rainfall harvesting and building rain barrels, Boeshart is active in all aspects of the Big Country Master Gardener program and it projects, including rose varieties at Cisco College, plant sales, educational workshops and supporting educational programs conducted by the Taylor County Extension Office.

In 2012, Boeshart logged more than 330 volunteer hours with the organization, which was one of many reasons he was recently named “Master Gardener of the Year.”


As the saying goes, the acorn does not fall far from the tree. Boeshart is a carbon copy of his father, the late Ray Boeshart, even to the point of wearing Western attire each day. Ray Boeshart was known for his teams of horses and wagons, and his son has a shed filled with the same items.

During the filming of the latest “True Grit” movie starring Jeff Bridges, Boeshart and his wagon team were hired as movie extras. Scenes were filmed near Georgetown. Boeshart said the movie experience was his one, fleeting moment of fame as he drove a team during a railroad scene.

For a good cowboy story, though, or help with rainfall harvesting, contact Butch Boeshart, the gardening cowboy.