Joe West doesn't even have to think when you ask him what his secret is.
He and his wife, Joy, are prizewinning gardeners. You may know people like them. They have that near-perfect garden, the one the neighbors stop to admire and then gather a vegetable or two. The one that looks like a sea of green. The one with branches and vines that stay loaded all season long.
The one that wins awards-such as first place in the Davidson County, Tenn., Master Gardeners Contest and 21 ribbons at the fair.
But the Wests, who have been married for five decades, are quick to reveal the secret of their success. Gardening is something they share. "Always listen to each other," says Joe, "and do everything together."
Joe and Joy West moved to their acreage north of Nashville in 1987. Joe, a retired Tennessee state trooper, and his wife are active in the nearby town of Joelton. They go to church there and help raise money for schools.
The garden, though, is a year-round endeavor. Joe and Joy start their favorite tomatoes and peppers indoors. They choose a day, usually in mid-May, and plant the whole garden.
"It's for sure an all-day job," says Joe. "But we get everything out in a day."
[PAGEBREAK] The Wests' rich compost-a combination of their own garden leftovers with banana, chopped watermelon and other ingredients-is used for mulch along with newspaper. "Heavy mulching never hurts," says Joe.
"We grow a large, yellow tomato that's been in my family for years," says Joy. "We also have a couple of tomatoes from families in Joelton." These heirlooms grow alongside Park Whoppers, Goliaths and Juliet cherry tomatoes.
The Wests order seeds from Park Seed and Totally Tomatoes, and they aren't afraid to try a new variety or two. Joy plants marigolds around tomato beds and says they "really don't see many bugs on the tomatoes." Indeterminate varieties are staked and tied using the Florida weave.
[PAGEBREAK] Joe and Joy don rubber gloves to gather their peppers, because some of them are extremely hot. Two of their banana varieties look just alike, but one is hot and one is sweet. Joe tells the difference by the direction they grow: The hot one grows pointing up, and the sweet one grows down. There are also jalape�±os and Chinese Giant bell peppers.
The Wests grow Snowbell White sweet corn, along with Aztec and Incredible. Beans and peas include White Mountain, Blue Lake pole beans, Zipper Cream Sweet crowders and Tobacco Patch beans.
After plants develop fruit, the Wests sidedress with 6-12-12. They also may till in tree leaves every now and then to keep soil loose.
[PAGEBREAK] "I try not to water," says Joe. "We depend on the rain." Sure enough, there are no hoses in sight around the main garden. If they do water, the Wests use saved rainwater or aged water.
"We leave the bugs alone unless there's an infestation," says Joe. A homemade mixture of a gallon of water, 2 tablespoons hot sauce and a few drops of liquid soap (to hold the mixture on the leaf) helps. They avoid chemical sprays so as not to harm bees, but they might spray with 25% liquid sevin if beetles and hornworms become too much of a problem.
The garden is usually in the ground until the holiday season. Then they pull up and sow winter wheat for a cover crop, which is plowed under in the spring.
The Wests share their gardening with each other, but they share their bounty with everyone else. "The neighbors just come and get their own," says Joy. "This year, we're thinking of working out a picking schedule so everyone gets as much as they want." For the Wests, their prizewinning garden-and their marriage-is all about sharing.