Story City woman takes time out for vegetable garden

Spotlight Story City woman takes time out for a vegetable garden

By Sara Jordan-Heintz Contributing Writer

Maddie Severson, of rural Story City, decided this was going to be the year she started a vegetable garden of her own. Growing your own food is economical, and it’s an easy way to stay healthy while social distancing in the midst of COVID-19.

A native of the Roland/Story City area, Severson said she had grown up with a small garden and wanted to continue that tradition with her husband Jake and their one-year-old son Emmett.

“When I was young, we always grew a small garden: tomatoes, peppers, and we made homemade salsa. I always thought that was really fun as a kid,” she said.

By day, Severson is employed part-time doing accounting and payroll for a farm. Her husband is an electrical lineman for the city of Story City.

While they both still worked outside the home during the COVID-19 shutdown of many businesses, Severson found she had her afternoons free to devote time to creating a garden. Previously, she said she had a garden on an acreage owned by her parents, but nothing compared to having the opportunity to grow produce on her own land.

“I learned it’s really hard to garden somewhere you don’t live, because you can’t see it all the time,” she said. “We bought our acreage about two years ago, and late last spring finished building our home, but the yard wasn’t ready yet to put in a garden.”

She began work on her dream garden in mid/late April 2020.

“It worked out perfectly being stuck at home more this spring, having the time and availability,” she said.

The garden area measures 20 feet by 25 feet. She bought already growing pepper and tomato plants, with the other veggies started from seeds.

“My green beans would have been growing more by this time in the season, but we’ve had so much rain,” she said. “The seeds have been washed away twice, and I had to replant them.”

In addition, her garden harbors corn, potatoes, onions, cucumbers and broccoli.

“It gave us something to do this summer, and I want to teach my son the value of putting the work into it and how it tastes so much better when you grow it yourself,” she said. Severson and her husband put in the labor, borrowing a tiller from a friend.

“My husband has maybe been more stuck at home because of me than the virus, with me making him stay and help me with the heavy lifting involved with the garden, like the fencing and the tilling,” she said with a laugh.

Online resources shaped Severson’s vision. She joined a vegetable gardening group on Facebook called Iowa Vegetable Gardening.

MADDIE SEVERSON SAID SHE WANTED TO TEACH HER SON EMMETT THE VALUE OF PUTTING THE WORK INTO A GARDEN AND ENJOYING HOW GOOD HOMEGROWN FOOD TASTES.

PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ

“I got a lot of ideas from other people on there,” she said. “It has a very positive feel to it as a group. People are very helpful — not looking down on the people new to gardening. Tips usually involve learning that every garden is different.” She gained insights including how much her plants will yield, helpful tips on what plants thrive best together, what plants attract different bugs, etc.

She did a free trial of the “Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Planner,” designed to help you find the best layout for your space, in addition to providing planting and harvesting dates. She said this was a great help, compared to relying only on hand-written sketches.

By late April, the ground had been tilled and a fence put up. Weekends were spent planting.

“Right now, the main thing is just keeping everything well-hydrated. You get into periods of heavy rain and heavy drought. Also, the worst thing is the weeding, keeping myself motivated to weed each day,” she said. Severson said she encourages people who have never kept a garden to give it a try, even if it only consists of pots kept on an apartment patio.

“I definitely think everyone should try to start a garden. It’s a humbling experience. You hope you do everything right and the (plants) come up. When they do, you’re super happy inside,” she said. “You don’t have to have a fancy space and it brings you joy when you see it finally pop up.”

For home gardening tips, visit the National Agricultural Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture at www.nal. usda.gov/topics/home-gardening.

MADDIE SEVERSON, OF RURAL STORY CITY, DECIDED THIS WAS GOING TO BE THE YEAR SHE STARTED A VEGETABLE GARDEN OF HER OWN. WHILE IT’S STILL IN ITS EARLY

STAGES, IT WILL SOON BE BURSTING WITH PEPPERS, TOMATOES, CORN, POTATOES, ONIONS, CUCUMBERS AND BROCCOLI. PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ

MADDIE SEVERSON’S GARDEN AREA MEASURES 20 FEET BY 25 FEET. SHE BOUGHT ALREADY GROWING PEPPER AND TOMATO PLANTS (PICTURED), WITH THE OTHER VEGGIES STARTED FROM SEEDS.

PHOTO BY SARA JORDAN-HEINTZ