by ALEXANDRA RETTER
Elizabeth Peitzman’s love of gardening has been heavily influenced by her mom. Like other local gardeners, she built on that family tradition, taking courses through the University of Minnesota Extension’s Master Garden program to become a volunteer helping others in the community expand their gardening knowledge.
Peitzman and two other local gardeners who are part of the Master Gardener program have all drawn inspiration from their family members. Peitzman’s mother gardened, and in middle and high school, Peitzman started growing her own roses, which was also inspired by her neighbor’s gardening. “I attribute a lot of my gardening and love of it with my mom, because she had beautiful gardens and helped me,” she said. Jim Faircloth’s mother also gardened, helping inspire his interest in growing flowers. “And my mother was very passionate … I think I inherited her interest in a variety of things. When she was involved in something, she just went about it 100%. So I think in some ways, that’s kind of how I’ve approached it — her attitude toward what types of plants to grow and the enthusiasm and effort it takes to accomplish that,” he said. Eileen Moeller’s mother and grandmother are avid gardeners, as well, and her mother was the first person she knew to grow native plants when she was a child. “And also, she changes something every year. And so I think I definitely have that from her, where every year I’m like, ‘That seems good. That’s good enough.’ And then the next year, I’m like, ‘Well, maybe I’ll add a little bit more. Or I’ll mess with this or that,’” she said. That connection continues to this day, with many of Moeller’s plants being divided from her mother’s garden and others coming from her grandmother’s garden.
That family connection with gardening is continuing with Peitzman’s children, who now help out in her garden, as well. “And I hope that connection happens with my kids and when they grow up they have beautiful gardens, as well,” she said. Gardening is a way to teach them about where food comes from and the importance of pollinators, she said, adding that they love to see if peas are ready and to pick beans. “So having them come out and help me harvest is good, and they can help me cook it and eat it,” she said. In this way, she and her children are connecting by cooking together, as well, she said.
The local gardeners grow a variety of flowers and produce. All three gardeners grow some native plants and hope to bring pollinators to the area with their gardens. “My purpose, other than the joy that the garden brings me, is for pollinators,” Peitzman said. She grows different types of milkweed for pollinators, for instance. Faircloth grows milkweed, too, as well as marigolds and hollyhocks. Moeller said her garden has elements of a cottage garden and includes many hardy perennials suited to Minnesota’s climate. She also is growing plants that are less common for the area, like dahlias. In addition to flowers, Peitzman grows berries such as raspberries and blackberries, as well as herbs including basil and sage. She also grows vegetables such as eggplant, summer squash, and zucchini.
For Moeller, gardening is a creative pursuit with mental health benefits, and it entails embracing the elements. “And the cool thing about growing stuff is you can’t make it perfect,” she said. “You just can’t. There’s weather and winter and time and animals and all sorts of things. And so you have to learn to be patient.” For Faircloth, gardening was a strategy for adding to the landscape of his home, initially. “…I thought, ‘Well, I’ve got a new house, and there’s no landscaping, so I’ve got to put something out. And for a while, it was kind of a utilitarian thing,” he said. He has now grown to be surprised at his emotional investment in the plants he’s growing. Living half of the year out of state and half of the year in Winona, he eagerly awaits spring in Minnesota. “And I’m always anxious to get back to Winona in the spring to see how things are starting to come out of the ground,” he said.
Peitzman, Faircloth, and Moeller are all working to share their know-how and love of gardening with the community. The Master Gardener program allows them to continue deepening their knowledge of gardening and to then pass that information on in the community, they said. “Without any doubt in my mind, the biggest benefit to me was being around people who share a love of plants,” Faircloth said. Moeller said, “And I really liked that there were a lot of volunteer opportunities and that everything is education-based and science-based, and it’s a lot about making gardening — whether it’s vegetables or flowers or whatever — accessible to people.” Faircloth hopes gardening will enable the community to be in tune with its environment. “… I think gardening makes a community stronger,” he said. “I think it makes it more aesthetically pleasing.” It’s also a way to take care of the natural world, Moeller said. “And there are a lot of plants and creatures that we’re losing because of changes to our environment, their environment … It’s something that serves ourselves, but it also inevitably serves the world around us,” she said.
The three gardeners suggested that for those getting started with gardening, being flexible and adaptable are key. Peitzman said she is never done with a garden. “You can always do something and add something, change something,” she said. She added, “And so don’t give up too easily. Have a plan, go with the plan, and if it doesn’t work, if things don’t come back the next year, just try it again. Be patient, and really — you want to enjoy it, so find the plants you like and you think will bring you joy and start there.” Moeller encouraged community members to not be afraid of failure. “I think that I’ve probably killed who knows how many plants. So many plants. But it’s part of learning, and you learn from failing. And so I think a lot of times people feel a lot of pressure to get things right the first time, and it’s OK to not do it right,” she said. She also recommended starting small. “If there’s a plant you like that you’re drawn to, just do a little bit of research on it. Find out where does it like to grow, where does it come from, how much water does it need. And just start with that,” she said. “And that will inevitably lead you to other things. If you want to grow a tomato, grow one tomato in a pot. If you want to grow a dahlia, you can grow a dahlia in a pot.”
For more information on the Master Gardener program, visit extension.umn.edu/master-gardener or the Master Gardener Volunteers of Winona County’s Facebook page.
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