City garden feeds ML family

MOSES LAKE - What good is a yard if all you do is look at it? That's what Moses Lake's Gerome Wawers wonders about lawns. "To me, a front yard with just lawn sucks up nutrients and water... I would like to have something of use.," he said.

Wawers looked at his property and decided it should produce, so about three years ago he dug up his front yard and planted vegetables. He moved his efforts from the community gardens downtown, where he said his crops were being stolen. To house his garden, he used recycled 4x4 wood panels found on the side of the road, or in abandoned piles around town, to build garden boxes for lettuce and cabbage. He dug rows for low-growing plants like squash and watermelon. This year he added trellis to his side and back yards in order to grow cucumbers and gourds. Also growing are peas and beans, horse radish, varieties of garlic, kohlrabi and broccoli, varieties of peppers and tomatoes, asparagus, eggplant, raspberries and strawberries.

During the growing season, Wawers and his family can not eat all the food the garden produces. Much of the harvested vegetables get frozen or canned for fresh and tasty goods throughout the winter.

Wawers said, "It's nice whenever you're cooking to grab something from the garden. It tastes better, and you know where it came from, if it's been sprayed or not." The Wawers family are not the only ones eating the crops, either. Neighbors can be seen snagging a strawberry while walking by, yelling their thanks toward the house.

Wawers even lets the bugs eat their share. "I'm trying to convert to a more natural approach, the garden is much weedier than usual because I didn't use weed killer," Wawers said. He utilizes natural pesticides including neem and kelp meal products he learned about at a conference in Portland, Ore.

Some pests can not be stopped and can be devastating, Wawers has discovered, like when his grandson was playing in the garden and returned to the house carrying the only watermelon growing, inedible at the size of a softball and said, "Look, I picked it!"

Like all good gardeners, he said, "I learn a little bit every year and apply it." Next year will be better cucumbers, restricted this year because of ashy soil, and a new irrigation system. Soil in this area needs to be amended with nutrients and time is needed to grow microbes in the soil, which keep root systems healthy. Wawers has used peat moss, worm casting, and fish hydrolysate to amend his soil.

For irrigation, Wawers was using "oozing" hoses, but they tend to break, he said. This year he opted for a regular lawn sprinkler and plans to switch to a low-pressure system next year that sprays low to ground, every foot or so, out of a hose.

"There is almost a Zen quality if you go out in the morning when it's cool and let your mind drift away and you don't have to concentrate on anything. There is an enjoyment of seeing stuff grow. It feels good to see something go from a seed to plant to harvest," Wawers said. He recommends gardening to everybody.

With all these benefits, one might think more people would do this sort of project. In many cities around the nation, "urban farming" is picking up popularity from the rooftops of New York City to the front lawns of the Pacific Northwest. Many people look at urban farming as a way to cut grocery and gas bills, add usable green space and have a rewarding hobby. Not many people in Moses Lake have snatched up the trend. "I've heard that some in the Russian community do it (urban farming). When we first started doing it, our neighbors down the street had a friend who thought our yard was a Russian's yard," Wawers said.

Urban gardens are at one end praised for adding health benefits to those growing the food and the environment. But there is continued controversy within municipalities about how far urban farms can go. Cities including Des Moines, Miami and Vancouver, British Columbia are considering banning front yard farms. You can find more stories, statistics and debates on the New York Times and National Geographic websites. Locally, a request from a Moses Lake resident asked that chickens and rabbits be allowed in city limits. The council put the question to the Planning Commission, who suggested the animals be allowed. However, when the council took up the recommendation and additional input from the community and city staff they decided to not allow them because of noise and other neighborly concerns, Moses Lake City Manager Joe Gavinski said. Many local municipalities, including Portland, Ore. , allows residents to have as many as three chickens without a permit and no roosters. Wawers said his family would be interested in raising chickens for eggs.

"Anyone can do it, even in just a little space, you can do container gardening. Just 10 square feet is great if you plant the right stuff. I recommend it to anybody. It's a good thing to do, a good hobby, and you get a sense of accomplishment," Wawers said, who not only has little space, but little time.

Wawers works full-time for Grant County Public Works as their bridge supervisor. Along with his crew, he maintains all county owned bridges and structures, sidewalks, and about 50 miles of guardrail.

Cynthia Wawers, Jerome's wife, stays at home and baby sits the grandkids many days. Although she helps out in the garden, Cynthia Wawers likes flowers most and focuses on her geraniums, lavender, bay lilies, wisteria, clematis and zinnias whose seeds her mother handed down to her about 15 years ago.

As you plan your garden for next year or consider your water bill for your lawn this summer, think about not only what you give to your garden, but also what your garden can give back to you.