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PrintA Little Bit of Magic
For greater success in our area’s short growing season, consider renting a garden plot
by SUSAN LYKES
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Judy Allen and her mother planted a lollipop tree in their yard in Illinois after they had watched an episode of Captain Kangaroo in which the beloved children’s TV-show host did just that.
The next day, they found a large tree made of many branches where the single lollipop stick had been planted; on it were growing dozens of lollipops. What kid wouldn’t love that?
Now settled in Teton Valley with a family of her own, Allen planted a lollipop tree with her son, Will, for several summers until, as she put it, Will was old enough that “the Scotch® tape was a dead giveaway!”
But Allen doesn’t need tape in her sprawling yard at the mouth of Darby Canyon; anyone can see the magic she sows. It is the magic of a forward-thinking gardener who selected a piece of real estate with finicky precision, the magic of more than a decade of tending the soil, now so rich with nutrients and plant-loving creatures that chemical fertilizer is unnecessary and would be drastically out of place. A favorable microclimate—where geography and weather patterns combine to support cultivation of a green thumb—provides more magic. And Allen is kind enough to share it all with fellow Teton Valley gardeners.
Some are experienced, but many just want a good place to begin. In 2008, on a single acre of the family’s fifteen-acre property, Allen began renting garden plots, each just fifty square feet in size. She shares her soil (which meets national certified organic standards), her irrigation system, and, perhaps most importantly, her knowledge, all for just $30 per plot per growing season. Another $5 buys fertilizer and a row cover with stakes to keep it in place.
Last summer, six people rented nine plots from Allen, including Susan Lykes, who was quickly convinced of the value of the undertaking. “Find a Judy,” Lykes said. “She’s really amazing!”
Although Lykes kept a small garden plot at her home in Victor, the soil was difficult to grow anything in. Then she saw an article in the Teton Valley News about Allen’s rental plots and signed up. At the end of the season, Lykes was amazed at the color, size, and taste of the root vegetables she’d grown.
“The biggest surprise was how gorgeous the carrots were,” she said. “I was just totally smitten with the carrots.”
Taste was just one improvement; lessening her own carbon footprint was another. She and her husband Mayo always try to buy locally, produce especially. “It seems like [growing locally] is a very easy way to make a difference in the world,” Lykes said. “It’s really nice not to be bringing in things from a long way away.”
The shocking truth is that an average meal in the United States travels an estimated 1,500 miles from farm to plate. Food items are often picked unripe to ensure a longer shelf life, with significant environmental impact from processing, packing, and transporting foodstuffs around the country.
