Beyond the Garden Gate

The garden of the singing potato

By Dooley Berry
Posted 8/10/16

Some transplanted gardeners from up in the frozen North believe that gardening in the South is harder than in other regions. It's not harder, just different. You won't generally find a Southern …

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Beyond the Garden Gate

The garden of the singing potato

Posted

Some transplanted gardeners from up in the frozen North believe that gardening in the South is harder than in other regions. It's not harder, just different. You won't generally find a Southern gardener eagerly growing rhubarb, however, okra plants are likely to be winding their way all over that Southern vegetable garden. Just different.

And then there are those joyful "so glad to be here!" new transplants who come and add their own charm and expertise to Southern gardening and living. Two of these happy new residents are Diana Spillman and her father, Donald, who hail from Kentucky and Ohio, and now live and garden in the Belforest community. Diana is a new graduate of the 2016 Baldwin County Master Gardener class and just bubbles with enthusiasm about the group.

"When Dad and I moved here two years ago," she explains,"we wanted to meet new friends who loved gardening like we do. So, we attended some of the gardening workshops held by the Master Gardeners each spring. We were enchanted with this group! They are the finest group of folks I have ever been associated with. They are kind, giving people who desire sharing their knowledge with everyone. I just had to join this bunch and Dad came to most of the meetings, where he was most welcomed."

Diana and dad, Donald, are both vibrant, intelligent folks who have lived interesting lives before heading down to LA (Lower Alabama), where they continue to enrich their community with sustaining contributions. Diana, Dr. Spillman, has been a university science professor, a registered dietician, a research scientist, a food judge in several states and a director of emerging medical technicians. Always a major goal of hers throughout her life has been to teach people to eat with an awareness of our food heritage. "Gardens are a manifestation of that," she adds.

Diana has had the honor of addressing the World Health Organization in Vienna at a United Nations gathering. She, of course, spoke on good nutrition with an emphasis on awareness of where our food comes from and how it influences our culture.

Although Diana was raised on a farm outside of Lexington, Kentucky, lived in Ohio for many years and only located to Alabama two years ago, she says, "My spirit has been here forever."

"As Dad began losing his sight," she says, "I decided to leave cold climates behind and bring him to this warm and friendly place in Lower Alabama. He is almost 92 years old, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and we both dislike the cold, so here we happily are. We are extremely happy here and the people are extraordinarily nice."

Don owned and operated a farm outside of Lexington, Kentucky, where he raised cutting flowers, mostly mums, for the floral industry. He shares, "I have always been interested in growing things. When I was in college, I worked in a greenhouse and liked it very much. After 30 years with the federal government, I designed and built the greenhouses on my small farm and started growing varieties of chrysanthemums and perfecting their growing conditions. We really did well."

Despite some sight and hearing problems, Don remains active and participates heartily in life.

This full-of-charm daughter and dad duo have a morning routine of enjoying their coffee or tea out on their patio, savoring the birds and sounds of early morning. Diana laughingly shares, "One morning, Dad was already out and I was bumbling around in the kitchen. I heard him say, 'I heard a singing potato in our yard!' Naturally, I hurried out to see and hear this miracle. What he really said was, 'I heard a cicada in our yard!' We are both a couple of characters!" Indeed they are-in the best possible way.

Diana continues working these days part time with the Belforest Fire Department, as she gardens and learns more about the process during her off times. She and her mother canned and preserved fruits and vegetables - a process Diana continues, quite successfully, as I can attest to. She served scrumptious fresh cherry cupcakes with a delicious homemade passionflower syrup on the day of my visit. Yummy!

Along with passionflower vine, Diana and Don grow roses, camellias, blackberries, raspberries, horseradish, tomatoes, foot-long red beans, peppers, lemon trees, herbs, persimmons, crabapples and very large Italian hanging squash, which are a sight to behold!

"There have been times in my life," Diana says, "When I didn't have time for a garden and I really missed it. Growing your own food and preparing and preserving it keeps us in touch with our heritage-particularly how our mothers did things-I think. Everyone should have a garden. It brings us all closer to God."

Diana and Don tend to their "messy garden," as she calls it, with great care and love. "A messy garden doesn't scare the animals," she adds.

Their garden of fruits, vegetables and flowers, including gladiolas, zinnias, cosmos and miniature roses thrives in an enchanted natural setting where rabbits and toads and birds are as welcome as people.

When asked for gardening advice, Diana quickly shares, "Gardeners should all get a tetanus shot and use newspapers to prevent weeds and be ecologically sound."

Whoever it was who coined the phrase, "Grow where you are planted," surely was referring to these two. With their tender, loving father and daughter relationship, their eagerness to grow gardens and themselves into the best they can be in our south Alabama climate, and a sense of awe and wonder that doesn't fade with years, Diana and Donald Spillman and their garden of the "singing potato" bring much that is magic into our corner of the world.