Local Residents Check out Area Gardens

"You don't need a P.H.D to have a garden," Bob Dewald said. "You just need to like it."

This interest is what brought people out on a Sunday in the middle of August for a tour of some of the town's home vegetable gardens. The Winchesters Farmers Market organized the event, which was an opportunity for people to learn more about gardening.

"The fun about vegetable farming is that you never know what you're going to get," said Elizabeth Aurilo. "It depends upon the weather each year. While that's not so good for farmers, it's good for us. Last year with the cooler weather it was good for broccoli."

Aurilo has been growing vegetables at home for nine years. She started with just tomatoes at first and then expanded from there. Now she has lettuce, beets, cabbage, kale, carrots, beans, peppers a variety of herbs and much more.

How does she manage to plant so much in a space that is essentially the size of a one-car garage?

"We pick and then we re-seed," Aurilo said.

Elizabeth Aurilo's interest in home growing started with her parents who had their own large garden. She also boasts that they plant her husband's family tomato, which has its origins in Campagna, Italy.

Her tip for people interested in establishing their own garden is to plant sunflowers.

"Sunflowers bring some shade and they attract bees," Aurilo said. "Plus they're pretty and they're fun for the kids to plant."

For Bob Dewald, who takes great pride in his own large garden, what he grows is very important for his own daily life.

"I'm a vegetarian," Dewald said. "I might eat some fish from time to time, but otherwise I am. We have three vegetable courses with each meal and I'd say that six out of seven of those courses each week come from this garden."

For the winter months Dewald will can and freeze his vegetables. Last year alone he canned 200 quarts of tomatoes.

"We freeze 200 pounds of vegetables each year too," Dewald said. "My wife gets mad sometimes that we have too much."

Having a thriving home garden though comes naturally for Bob Dewald, who grew up on a farm in Michigan. His experience has taught him that there is one critical area where people make their biggest mistake in planting.

"You have to know how to weed," Dewald said. "Take every weed out when establishing a garden. Don't let them go to seed. People will weed and water and then see them the next day. The key is to make sure the sun gets them. A totally sunny day is best for weeding. That'll kill them."

But you will never catch Dewald, who is a chemist, using any pesticides on his garden.

"I have not sprayed," he said. "Rule is (pests) get one third of what I plant.  I don't want to use anything on it that's not found in nature."

And it's that natural approach that is important not only to the Winchester Farmers Market who organized the tour, but to many of the people who came out on Sunday.

"It's essential that we get back to basics," Mike Murphy said. "The more we can grow ourselves, or in our communities the healthier we're going to be."