Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan ■ Saturday, June 19, 2010PAGE 6B www.yankton.net

HOMEGARDEN

BY KATHY VAN MULLEKOM© 2010, Daily Press (Newport News,

Va.)

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. —Shane Emmett believes veg-etable gardens should be asattractive and easy as they arenutritional and healthy, and he’slaunched a venture to prove hiscase.

He and his business partnerand childhood friend, IvanFehrenbach, started the UnitedStates of Food, which custombuilds and installs raised veg-etable gardens sized and suitedfor homes and businesses, espe-cially restaurants.

“I initially conjured the con-cept when I was living inCalifornia years ago and I readthe ‘Omnivore’s Dilemma’ whilesimultaneously killing basilplants in my yard,” says Shane,32, now a lawyer living inRichmond, Va.

“Michael Pollan suggestsgrowing your own food to get totruly understand food policy. Itried and it took me weeks torealize that I was planting thepoor herbs in rocks. I thoughtthere must be a way to help peo-ple grow their own food.

“We are here to make theexperience easier to the garden-ing neophyte. Also, the gardensjust look great in a yard — theyare works of art.”

United States of Food oper-ates from Ivan’s 20-acre propertyjust outside Williamsburg, Va.Ivan, 32, is a contractor whobuilt his home while living in atent for a year. During that time,Ivan mostly ate what he grew ina large garden there. Now, theland supports a small compost-ing operation, poultry, vegeta-bles, specialty plants, turkeys,peacocks and goats. They mixtheir soil blend, and build thegarden frames in a carpentryshop. Saturdays, they set upshop at the WilliamsburgFarmers Market.

In Williamsburg to install aculinary garden at Berret’sSeafood Restaurant, Shaneshows visitors how the gar-dens are designed to fit indi-vidual needs and how theyenhance the landscape for visi-tors walking by. Each plank of

cedar is individually cut,trimmed with a router andtreated with tung oil. Thin cop-per wire that glistens like art inthe summer sun is used fortrellising. The raised beds arefilled with a mixture of com-post, leaf mulch and vermicu-lite. Drip hoses operated withtimers ensure watering is easy;a deer netting system is avail-able.

“It’ looks almost like a pieceof lawn furniture when it’s com-plete,” says Shane. “We’ve beenamazed and pleased with howwell everything grows in thesegardens.”

Shane and Ivan plant thegardens with heirloom vari-eties raised by seeds they pur-chase from organic sourcessuch as Southern ExposureSeed Exchange and A Thyme toPlant, both in the Richmondarea. They also like Johnny’sSelected Seeds. When it comesto tomatoes, they favor oldieslike Matt’s Wild Cherry, PurpleCherokee, Yellow Pear andGreen Zebra.

With proper care, succes-sion planting and regular har-vesting, the gardens pay forthemselves in less than twoyears, says Shane. The gardenswith soil and plants start at$88 and go up to $785 for abackyard combination garden;some kits are shippable. Theywill seasonally replant yourgarden for a fee based on sizeand number of plants needed.

The company also custombuilds trellises, arbors andchicken coops — and will pro-vide the chickens with instruc-tions on how to care for them.

Everything is outlined —and more coming, includingthe “real food forum” — on itsWeb site at www.unitedstate-soffood.com.

“There is no better way toappreciate food systems and realfood than growing your own,even if it’s just a handful ofplants,” says Shane.

“We want to help people withhealthy living and rediscover avery American value: local sus-tainability and understand where

food comes from.”———

GROWING VEGETABLESCreate a good soil mix.

Thoroughly work aged organicmatter such as shredded leavesand mulch into existing soil ortopsoil you have brought in.

Think raised gardens.Plantings created above grounddrain better, are easier to weedand harvest and allow you toimprove the soil without a lot oftilling and digging.

Plant properly. Space veg-etable plants so they get goodair and light circulation for evendevelopment and fewer diseaseand pest problems.

Use compact varieties forsmall spaces and containers.

Plan your crops. Successionplanting ensures crops through-out the season instead of every-thing coming in at once.

For instance, plant tomatoesnow through July 1 for laterharvests; learn how atwww.dailypress.com/diggin-blog.

Water wisely. Laysoaker/dripper hoses alongrows of vegetable plants fordeep watering in root zones.Cover hoses with mulch andregulate with a timer. Avoidusing overhead sprinklerswhich waste water to evapora-tion and wind and keep foliagewet, making it susceptible tofungal diseases.

Harvest regularly. Herbs inparticular do best when youprune and use them often. Checksquash and cucumbers often

because they grow quickly andget too big if left on the vine.

———RESOURCES

— United States of Food atwww.unitedstatesoffood.com or804-925-8763.

— Southern Exposure SeedExchange at www.southernexpo-sure.com/index.html

— Johnny’s Selected Seeds atwww.johnnyseeds.com

— A Thyme to Plant atwww.athymetoplant.com

Designing, Installing Custom Vegetable Gardens

SANGJIB MIN/NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS/MCTQuinn Emmett helps install a garden at a restaurant inWilliamsburg, Va. The garden was installed by United States ofFood which sets up ready-made gardens.

SANGJIB MIN/NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS/MCTQuinn Emmett, from left, Joshua Bruns and Kenra Charles install a garden at a restaurant inWilliamsburg, Va. The garden was installed by United States of Food which sets up ready-made gar-dens.

BY WILLIAM HAGEMAN© 2010, Chicago Tribune

For the longest time, tallplants have been relegated tothe back of the garden, upagainst a fence or off to a cor-ner, shunted aside like that 6-foot seventh-grader who wasalways in the last row for classphotos.

But a flower bed of 4-, 5- or6-foot plants can be functionaland rewarding — and quite anattention-getter as well.

“One of my friends callsthem 55-mile-an-hour plants,”says Justin W. Hancock, aBetter Homes and Gardens gar-den editor since 2003 and nowthe senior garden editor forthe magazine’s Web site(bhg.com). “They catch yourattention even when you’re fly-ing down the highway at 55miles an hour.”

Hancock says that somegardeners can be intimidatedby tall plants, assuming there’sextra work involved becausethey all need to be staked.That may be true for somevarieties, such as delphiniums,but not others, such as sun-flowers and cannas.

“Another thing I like aboutthem is privacy,” Hancocksays. “They’re a great way toscreen views, especially ifyou live in some of thesesuburban areas where yourneighbors’ deck is 10 feetfrom yours. You don’t haveroom for a hedge. You don’twant to put in a fence. Butsome of these taller perenni-als will give you nice cover-age over the summer seasonand into the fall.”

Even if a gardener doesthink big, finding the right tallplants can be a challenge. “Ithink (interest) is diminishing,”Hancock says. “It’s so much

easier to ship compact plants.Put them on the truck, they’redamaged less. So more andmore plant breeders are tryingto get their plants smaller andsmaller.”

Still, there are enough largeflowers available to put on aflashy show (and many evengrow better from seed, makingthem a great value too). Hereare a few:

Boltonia: This underusedNorth American native, amember of the aster family,looks a lot like an aster, withwhite or pink flowers. It cangrow, shrublike, to 6 feet. “Itputs on a huge show in thelate summer, fall,” Hancocksays. “It’s the aster onsteroids.” Full sun.

Butterfly bush: A butterflybush can grow to 5 or 6 feet —7 in a good season. Theyattract butterflies and otherinsects as well as humming-birds, drawn to their pink,white, purple or blue flowers.Full sun.

Canna: Big leaves and bold-ly colored flowers (red, orange,yellow or pink) add drama to agarden. “It’s not hard to getthem to grow to 5, 6, 7 or 8feet,” Hancock says. “Thetallest one is C. ‘Musafolia,’and that can get to 12 feet in aseason if it’s happy, in a warm,moist spot.” These are tropicalplants, so gardeners here willhave to dig and store the rhi-zomes in a cool, dry place, orsimply treat them like annuals.Full sun.

Cleome: Also known asspider flowers, these annualsgrow up to 6 feet tall andhave distinctive pink, whiteor purple flowers. They’reeasy to grow from seed.“They look so much like fire-works to me,” Hancock says.“Why wouldn’t you want to

grow it? They’re wonderful inattracting hummingbirdmoths. And they give off areally nice fragrance atnight.” Full sun.

Cosmos: This delicate-looking flower with its fern-like leaves is tough as nailsand easy to grow from seed.Their lacy look makes themgreat filler plants too.Cosmos need full sun, butwill thrive in ordinary soil.Butterflies and bees lovethem. Sensation is just one ofthe taller varieties, toppingout at 4 feet.

Delphinium: A summergarden staple, they grow to 6feet and have beautifulblooms that attract butter-flies. Hancock calls them“probably the most majestic,eye-catching of the big peren-nials.” He also says they’reone of the fussiest.“Delphiniums like really richsoil to produce those good-size blooms, but the plantsthemselves are often short-lived.” Full sun to partialshade.

Hollyhock: Tall, colorful andold-fashioned, they need sunand moisture and will grow to6 feet or more. Many varietiesdie off after two years, “buthappily they often self-seed, soyou plant the seeds once andlet the seeds on the plantsdrop, and you’ll never have toplant them again. You see oldfarmsteads that have beenabandoned for 20 years thatstill have stands of holly-hocks.”

Joe-Pye weed: Anothernative perennial, it does well (7feet) in moist soil and has aflat top clustered with flowers.“It’s an A-plus plant for attract-ing butterflies,” says Hancock.Full sun but can tolerate somelight shade.

Sunflower: If you want themreally tall, buy one of the oldervarieties. “Breeders have reallybeen working on compact vari-eties with all of those colors,”Hancock says. “Some of thenewer ones have great branch-ing, so you can get a dozenflowers per plant instead ofjust the one big one on top.”Still, what’s more impressivethan a 10- or 15-foot-tall plantwith a basketball-size floweron top? Some of the taller vari-eties: American Giant Hybrid,Mammoth and Skyscraper. Fullsun.

Zinnia: Keeping withrecent trends, these popularannuals have been downsizedin a search for compact,more disease-resistant vari-eties. But the 4-footers stillhave a lot to offer: They’reeasy to grow from seed, arecolorful and keep producingtill frost. Taller varietiesinclude State Fair, CaliforniaGiant, My Lucky Ladies andBig Red.

———GROWING AND LEARNING

Many of these flowers aresold at garden centers andnurseries as seedlings andseeds. Web sites to visitinclude Burpee (burpee.com),Ferry-Morse Seed Co. (ferry-morse.com), Park Seed (park-seed.com), White Flower Farm(whiteflowerfarm.com) andHirt’s Gardens (hirts.com).These retail sites offer growingtips too.

For additional gardeninginformation, visit the Web sitesof the National GardeningAssociation (garden.org), theUniversity of Illinois Extension(urbanext.illinois.edu/hort)and The Gardener’s Network(gardenersnet.com).

Crazy Tall: Flowers That Reach The Stars

Y O U R N E W S ! T H E P R E S S & D A K O T A N

BY MARIANA GREENE© 2010, The Dallas Morning News

How many of you have gar-dened in your pj’s?

I’m guilty, for one. You go outthe front door to pick up thenewspaper, you go out the backdoor with the dog and, beforeyou know it, you’re deadheadingroses and watering dry pots — inyour nightie.

Anecdotal evidence indicatesthis is a female phenomenon. I’venever heard a man mention suchan unseemly habit. My husbandpokes his head out the frontdoor and looks up and down theblock several times. If the coastis clear, he leaps for the newspa-pers on the lawn and dashesback into the house, audiblybreathing a sigh of relief he was-n’t caught in his drawers.

Somehow, gardening in yourpajamas in your own backyarddoesn’t seem as extreme asthrowing a jacket over them andheading to the farmers market —in Manhattan on a Saturdaymorning — to join the throngsbuying organic produce. Butthat’s what former House &Garden editor DominiqueBrowning confesses to us in hernew memoir, “Slow Love: How ILost My Job, Put on My Pajamas& Found Happiness” (Atlas, $23).

Browning spent a stint in Texasworking at Texas Monthly beforeleaving for the high-stakes publish-ing world of New York. UntilNovember 2007 she was editor-in-chief of Conde Nast’s House &Garden; when it was shut downwithout warning, she and her staffwere given less than a week tovacate their offices.

“Slow Love,” published inMay, is her recounting of adivorced, empty-nester careerwoman’s means of dealing withthe sudden loss of her identity,not to mention her income, as a

respected mover and shaker inthe publishing world. Going tothe farmers market in her paja-mas is but one reaction to herlife crisis.

Browning is known in garden-ing circles for her passion forgardening. This is not the firstbook she has written thatdescribes how digging in the dirtand tending flowers are her sal-vation. That’s what attracts meto her writing.

Faced with my only child’sleaving home for college in 2004,I began to garden furiously. I’vealways gardened, but never withthe ferocity I practice now.

The author is painfully candidabout the despair she suffers inher losses and loneliness. On theone hand, I admire her frankness inputting all her less-than-admirableantics on these pages for all toread. On the other, I am horrified.

The pajama sortie gets worse:“I decide to venture further andstock up on items like milk andpasta. But within a couple ofblocks, I develop drawstring prob-lems. (Browning has revealed a fewpages earlier that she wears onlyBrooks Brothers men’s pajamas,and why.) I should have tied a dou-ble knot. My pants are slidingdown. Breathless, I pause in adoorway to address the dishevel-ment, and I realize that on top of itall I neglected to brush my hair. Iworry for a moment that I mighthave gone too far with the pajamasthing.”

Yeah. Maybe.However, the bottom line is

that Browning is a sister in gar-denhood. She gets it. She under-stands me — us — when my hus-band doesn’t.

“People who garden are theirown peculiar tribe, compelled toget their hands into the earth,”she writes. “Gardeners have todig, and leave their trace on apatch of earth.”

Gardening In PJ’s?OK, I’m Guilty