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Finding peacefulness in a large garden
Curt and Candy Woods stand in the large vegetable garden in River Grove.
Updated: September 17, 2012 6:07AM
RIVER GROVE — A large, lush garden on Forest View Street is the envy of the River Grove neighborhood,
The garden belongs to Candy Woods and her husband, Curt.
Five years ago, they purchased the space from a friend to build houses. Once the economy made a turn for the worst, Candy Woods decided to use the space for something else.
“Our back yard is small, but this amount of land is heaven,” Woods said. “My mother is from the South, and she had a garden. It was something we always did.”
This is the fourth summer that Woods has kept the garden. In the fall, they clean up the garden and lay down mulch. In the spring they put in some mushroom compost to give the ground hardiness. By the second week of May, Woods tries to have all of her vegetables planted.
And there are a lot of vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, zucchini, yellow squash, cabbage, green cabbage, beans, watermelon, cantaloupe, lettuce, potatoes, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, red potatoes, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, peppers and green peppers.
In all, she has 170 plants.
“Sometimes I don’t even have to go to the grocery store because I have all of my vegetables from my garden,” Woods said.
Her personal favorite is the tomato because they have multiple uses.
The Woods usually go over to the garden every day after work. All expenses come out of their own pockets. This year, the Woods had to buy boxes for each vegetable to keep them from flooding.
“It was a big expense this year because we had to buy the lumber,” she said. “It was around $2,000.” After purchasing the lumber for the boxes, the garden will now be cheaper to manage.
Not only does Woods have fresh, organic food all year long, but it also provides her with deep contentment.
“I love the peacefulness,” she said. “I can pick weeds for days. You can think and get all of your problems solved just being in the garden. Instead of going out, we go to our garden.
“It’s our hobby and enjoyment.”
Woods plans on giving extra vegetables to friends and family. She encourages more people to do grow gardens because it’s a nice thing to do.
“It’s very cool and I love it!”
