GARDEN SPOTLIGHT Times reporter Jessi Dreckman tends straw bale garden with 2-year-old Delilah Belle


Last month, as Jessi and Delilah admired a green zebra tomato growing in their garden, Jessi told the 2-year-old it would be ready in one more day. She turned away briefly, and when she looked again, Delilah had obviously decided that extra day wasn’t needed. With half the tomato already gone, she told her mom, “I eat it.”

This colorful harvest of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, peppers and gherkins was picked from the Dreckman garden last week.

Tomato sandwiches are one of Jessi and Delilah Dreckman’s favorite summer meals. The perfect combination is toasted white bread, mayonnaise, salt and pepper and ripe, colorful heirloom tomatoes.

Jessi and Delilah Dreckman

A wall of cherry tomatoes

Delilah Dreckman, 2, daughter of Times reporter Jessi Dreckman and her husband, Drew, loves picking cherry tomatoes from the vine and popping them into her mouth. This year’s harvest of cherry tomatoes has been massive, but Delilah has eaten just about every single one of them.

Boston Pickling Cuke

West India Burr Gherkin

This wide-angle photo of Jessi and Delilah Dreckman’s straw-bale garden was snapped early in this year’s growing season, but even then, Delilah had already claimed her favorite spot in the garden – the wall of cherry tomatoes.

Delilah Dreckman, 2, is a good garden helper, and an especially good garden eater. She carefully inspects the blackberry bushes to find the ripe berries. During blackberry season, she checked the family’s vines regularly. After she peeled all the ripe berries from the planted vines, she asked her dad, Drew, to take her on the four-wheeler to pick wild berries.

This photo was snapped as Delilah picked the very first zucchini from her garden this spring.

To create a weed barrier, Jessi Dreckman covered her garden space in old Ozark County Times newspapers and cardboard. Then she topped that layer with straw. The combination of the two has kept the garden nearly weed-free since it was planted. The perimeter of the garden is lined with straw bales, and the interior includes two standing cattle panels that are tilted to create a trellis for beans, cucumbers, gherkins and melons.

Gardeners’ names: Jessi Dreckman and daughter Delilah Belle

 

Describe your garden: We have a garden spot that’s about 20 feet by 30 feet. It features a 6-foot fence to keep the critters out. We typically plant in-ground but, inspired by Mindy Pippin’s beautiful straw bale gardens from years past, we decided to go that route. We’ve now surrounded the interior fence with  about 30 bales that are either currently planted with summer plants or are in the process of being conditioned for fall planting. 

We also have a soaker hose system that runs throughout, making watering a breeze. That’s a must with a 2-year-old.

We’ve planted three types of cherry tomatoes (Super sweet 100s, black cherry and Sungold), and five types of large tomatoes (hillbilly, green zebra, purple Cherokee, pineapple and beefsteak). 

We’ve also planted green beans, purple “yard long” beans; Boston pickling cucumbers; West India Burr gherkins; basil; orange, red and green bell peppers; zucchini and yellow squash; icebox watermelon; cantaloupe; and a honeydew-type melon called Bodacious.

For fall planting, we’re preparing to plant lots of lettuces and other greens, turnips, radishes, miniature pumpkins, sugar snap peas, carrots and more.

The space isn’t huge, but we’re getting an amazing amount of produce out of it.

 

How long have you been gardening? Are you influenced by other relatives or ancestors who had a garden?

I’ve been gardening since I graduated high school. I’ve had huge gardens and little gardens, and one year I just had three tomato plants in 5-gallon buckets. 

My mother, Carole Long, is an awesome gardener and has always grown a big garden. My grandparents, Ronald Fife and his wife Mary, and my grandmother, the late Phyllis Fife, were also big gardeners. My great-great-grandparents, Edith and Elray Fife, who we called Mamaw and Pappaw, were probably the best gardeners of the bunch. They endured the Depression and survived by feeding themselves. We always ate from the garden at Mamaw and Pappaw’s house.

I hope Delilah will be inspired by what we’re doing now and will grow her own garden when she’s older.

 

What is your favorite thing to grow? 

Delilah takes after her mama. We both love to plant, grow and eat tomatoes. I prefer the funky, colorful heirloom varieties, and she loves cherry tomatoes. Every day we go out to the “wall of cherry tomatoes,” and Delilah plucks them from the vine. “It’s ripe,” she’ll say, then pop it in her mouth. I’ve tried picking them and feeding them to her in the kitchen, but she doesn’t eat nearly as many there. She prefers her “’matoes” straight from the vine. 

 

Do you have any special tips, tricks or advice for other gardeners? I’ve had the pleasure of learning many tips and tricks from friends and neighbors over the years. The best things I did this year were to invest in a soaker hose system;  put down newspaper, cardboard and straw as a weed barrier; and plant in straw bales. (If you do opt for a straw bale garden, Google how to condition the bales before planting. It’s important!)

There have been no weeds popping up. My plants have done exceptionally well, and I haven’t been stressed trying to keep up with watering like in past years. While working at the Times and raising a 2-year-old, I just don’t have the time each day to dedicate to my garden like I did when I was younger. But with the soaker hose system, I just turn on the spigot after work to water the plants for a couple of hours. It’s been a lifesaver! I’ve also recently learned that you can hunt tomato hornworms with a blacklight at night. They glow and are really easy to spot under the blacklight – and kids love the hunt!

 

What’s your favorite part of gardening? What’s your least favorite part?

I love spending time in the garden. It’s a wonderful place to relax and become grounded. There’s also something so satisfying about growing and eating your own food. Delilah loves being there too. She calls it “Mama and D’s garden.” It’s a great feeling knowing that she’s spending time outside and learning to love vegetables and other produce. She’s much more likely to try new foods if she’s helped grow and pick them. 

Ozark County Times

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