It's that time of year when Minnesota gardeners are comping at the bit to get out into the yard and start planning, digging, and planting their favorite spaces. With the increased attention on locally grown foods, garden-fresh fruits and vegetables are making a comeback.
Four Edina gardeners still fondly remember the hits and misses from last season; however, they are ready with spade in hand to start over again. For them, the fresh tastes of summer cannot grow fast enough. And, as they will tell you, patience is part and parcel of a gardener's life.
Gardening with a purpose
Michele Cox started her organic vegetable garden a few years ago with a purpose in mind. "One of our grandsons is on the autism spectrum," she says. "he's on a special diet and only eats organic foods. I decided to become educated on organic produce and try growing it myself."
Cox's two grown daughters have also started organic vegetable gardens, and the three of them share the bounty with each other during each season. "in the early spring, I usually plant spinach. Last year, I had good success with my lettuce. i also planted chard for the first time and that did really well," Cox says. her other gardening favorites include green onion and eggplant. She also enjoys sharing her green beans with her grandchildren who love to eat them right off the vine.
Her daughters had mixed results with their harvest. "one of them has a real problem with wildlife getting into the garden," Cox says. "her carrots and cucumbers didn't make it." All three grow tomatoes each season--last year's crop was a good one adds Cox.
"There's definitely a learning curve when it comes to gardening," she says. "I've actually gotten to the point where I take notes about my garden, noting what has worked from year to year."
Cox's backyard garden gets some sun during the day, so she plans accordingly. I've figured out how to plant so the tall plants don't overshadow the lower ones," she says. "You find out how things work as you go along."
Once the ground thaws, Cox will be ready to get back into her garden and see what she can do this year. "Once you're bitten by the gardening bug, it really takes on a life of its own," she says with a laugh.
Garden Camaraderie
Tom Pirsch and his neighbor Scott Skordahl are kindred spirits when it comes to their backyard gardens. For the last 40 years, Pirsch has cultivated he spacious produce garden, sticking with his tried and true favorites like green, yellow and purple beans, onions, snap peas, raspberries, tomatoes--regular and cherry--and one lone jalapeno plant--"for my chili," he says. Pirsch also uses sage from the garden for his Thanksgiving stuffing recipe.
His lush and beautiful garden has been a source of enjoyment for year. "I started it when my kids were young," Pirsch, 80, says. "I thought I'd show them that stuff comes out of the garden instead of from the grocery store."
About nine years ago, Skordahl moved next door and the two struck up a friendship over planting, weed prevention, and most recently, compost. A healthy looking compost pile, masterminded and built by Skordahl sits in an enclosed area just outside Pirsch's vegetable garden, allowing the duo to reap the benefits of rich fertilizer.
"We talked about building this thing for three of four years," Skordahl says. Pirsch smiles as Skordahl explains the science behind the way the composting process works.
Despite good-natured ribbing between the two neighbors, both work together on everything from fencing--keeping the pesky rabbits out of Pirsch's garden--to their future gardening projects. Skordahl is talking about planting pumpkins near the edge of a small pond behind their homes that would sprawl along the rim of both yards--he has already had great success with several varieties of squash in his vegetable garden.
"Or maybe we should try some of those heirloom tomatoes," Skordahl says, as Pirsch slowly nods in agreement. When the time comes to plant new crops this year the neighbors might compare notes, share a few chores and engage in elaborate discussions about their thriving gardens, making their bond that much stronger.
Back to the Basics
Cheryl Gunness loves that she can send her two young sons, Eli and Oliver, out into the garden during raspberry season to pick a bowl of luscious red beauties for their breakfast cereal. She also enjoys the fact that she can pop open a container of frozen pesto in February and "just smell summer."
Since starting a front yard natural produce garden four years ago, Gunness says she has developed "a new found respect for the way our grandmothers had to work so hard to make sure their gardens did well."
She also is intrigued by the stories of victory gardens, planted during World War II to provide fresh produce for families. "I read that in Minnesota, over 40 percent of all fresh produce grown during that time came from victory gardens," Gunness says. "Today, it seems like people are really getting back to that idea of locally grown food. I like that my kids can see firsthand where some of our fruits and vegetables come from."
In addition to raspberries, Gunness grows strawberries, blueberries and rhubarb. On the vegetable side, she was really pleased with the way a variety of lettuce plants did last year. "we had more spinach that we could eat, and our arugula did well too," she says. Another new addition rainbow chard was also a success.
"one of the things I learned about gardening is that when things come in, you have to figure out what to do with them right away," she says. "When it's ready, it's ready."
Corn, broccoli, eggplant and red peppers round out Gunness' garden, but she is always on the lookout for new produce. In the front yard, her garden not only gets full sun, but also draws the attention of her neighbors.
"If I'm out here weeding or picking something, I like it when people stop by to talk about gardening or ask me questions about my garden," Gunness says. "I know our efforts here have inspired a couple of our neighbors to plant their own gardens. I really like the community garden aspect of doing this."
