Aisle Insights: Grow Together

Plant a garden this spring and harvest the many benefits it yields

By Aaron Putze, APR

Gardening was a major interruption growing up on our family farm near West Bend.

Despite our best intentions, tending to the garden was a chore that always got squeezed in-between the more important tasks of life on a farm – the ones that truly paid the rent, like growing soybeans, corn, oats and hay and raising pigs and cattle. Those tasks were the headliners, followed by yardwork and housework.

Then came the garden.

Make no mistake, its low ranking on the chores-that-needdoing depth chart in no way minimized its importance. That was obvious from the land area our gardens consumed. That’s right. Like most farms in our neck of the woods, we had two. The first was directly behind the farmhouse, with adequate land area to produce enough vegetables to make a Ruby Tuesday buffet jealous. The second was on the south edge of the building site. It offered melons, squash, pumpkins and sweet corn ample room to stretch their arms and legs.

Planting, weeding, spraying, picking, occasionally watering the garden and keeping rodents at bay were typically done at the crack of dawn, after supper or on Sundays – which, come to think of it, was supposed to be a day of rest! Thinking back, perhaps my apathy for gardening was because it was a chore that needed done when my siblings and I were most tired, or just wanted to go fishing or host a neighborhood softball game.

Fast forward roughly 35 years. Today, gardening is something I absolutely treasure. I invest in seed, fertilizer, pavers, topsoil, compost, fencing, water and trellises – plus a good chunk of time – to grow tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, potatoes, lettuce, beets and sweet corn. No longer on the farm, space limitations require maximizing every square inch of soil.

And as often as possible, I involve my children. That’s easier said than done given their many activities and my selfish impulse to use the garden as a physical and mental escape.

Yet, whenever they lend a hand, I’m reminded how incredibly rewarding it is to get dirt under our fingernails. Gardening tasks are numerous and varied: cutting seed potatoes into thirds for planting, watering planters, digging shallow trenches and delicately depositing seeds, and positioning cages and trellises so plants can climb.

Despite our best intentions, gardening doesn’t always go according to plan. In fact, growing things can be downright exasperating. Bugs are relentless. Mold and disease can overpower. Heavy rains, wind and hail do damage. Weeds always demand the right of way. And rabbits, squirrels, striped gophers and June beetles demand their share.

Welcome to gardening, which, come to think of it, is a lot like life as a farmer just on a smaller scale.

And that’s why gardening is so worthwhile, especially for our children. Most children will never experience farm life. But gardening is a close second when conveying important life lessons. Growing and harvesting food takes commitment, patience, problem-solving, communications and work ethic. It assigns value to time and effort. It provides a stark reality check that food indeed comes from soil and toil (not the refrigerator, drive-thru window or grocery store). And it teaches us to be caretakers of all living things, that we’re never really in charge and that farmers deserve our eternal respect and gratitude.

More than that, gardening is a reminder that rewards accompany tasks worth doing. Throughout the year, we savor the fruits (and vegetables!) of our labor when gathered around the kitchen table. There’s nothing like a fresh garden salad, savory sweet corn, cooked beets, steamed green beans or cucumber relish during the summer. Or, when fall and winter arrive, homemade chili is extra

special because it includes the tomatoes we harvested and stored before the first freeze arrived.

I’m convinced the world would be a much better place if more families gardened.

If that sounds overly simplistic and naïve, don’t take my word for it.

Grab a shovel and seed and get growing this spring. Then, in no time flat, be prepared to harvest the bountiful benefits and blessings – not to mention great food – it offers all year long!

Aaron Putze, APR, serves as Sr. Dir., Information and Education for the Iowa Soybean Association. He was raised on a farm near West Bend and lives in Waukee with his wife Crystal and children Garrett, Grant and Jaelyn.

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