Le Mars woman keeps gardening tradition growing

(Sentinel photo by Amy Erickson) Lynn Bohnenkamp plants everything from tomatoes to herbs in her garden in Le Mars. This year she decided to try growing eggplant from seed. She keeps the tiny plants in a window at her office. Bohnenkamp's love of gardening started as a child and continues today. [Click to enlarge]

"Grandpa taught me seed planting," the Le Mars woman said. "Mother always planted. We were always in the garden."

Bohnenkamp's grandfather used to grow seeds using a lighting apparatus.

"There would be like four levels of lights and trays," Bohnenkamp said. "He would plant his seeds in the washroom and I was always fascinated with that."

Growing up on the farm with her four siblings, Bohnenkamp remembers her dad would plow up the garden using a plow and tractor because it was so large.

"We walked on our boards and planted the seeds," she said. "That way you don't tramp down the dirt and make it hard."

The Le Mars woman continues the family gardening tradition today.

She plants vegetables like tomatoes, peppers and jalapeņos, herbs like cilantro, basil and chives and flowers like tulips, daffodils and irises.

"I still have my grandmother's irises," Bohnenkamp said. "When she left the farm, we were able to get some of the purple irises."

She also still has rhubarb from her mother's garden and 20-year-old asparagus plants.

Bohnenkamp said she is not a master gardener, but she has learned a few tricks of the trade.

"I put egg shells and bone meal in the bottom of the holes when I plant my tomatoes," Bohnenkamp said. "That helps with blossom end rot."

The rotting can be caused by excess wetness or disease from year to year, Bohnenkamp said.

"I have a small tomato patch so I have to keep my tomatoes in the same spot every year," she said. "A true gardener would tell you to rotate your tomatoes and your produce."

Bohnenkamp said she also uses the egg shells and bone meal for her green peppers and jalapeņos.

"It took a couple years, but it really did help I think," she said.

Each year Bohnenkamp grows about 40 tomato plants, 40 pepper plants and 40 jalapeņos along with other vegetables in her L-shaped, 10 by 50-square-foot garden.

"We do a lot of salsa with the Bohnenkamp sisters-in-law. We get together and do a day of canning salsa. We can jalapeņo pieces. We make tomato soup and can that," Bohnenkamp said. "We usually make it a fun thing."

She also plants cucumbers, some of which are made in refrigerator pickles, and dries herbs like basil, cilantro and parsley.

"We use just about everything we can out of that garden," Bohnenkamp said. "If I can't use it, then we go visit the neighbors."

In the past, her main reason for gardening was flowers, but now Bohnenkamp said it's more for the food.

"My kids both live in Denver," she said. "My kids are kind of organic so they prefer home-grown tomatoes if they can get them. I will mail tomatoes to them."

This year Bohnenkamp is trying something new -- spinach and eggplant -- in her garden.

"My children like eggplant lasagna so that is the reasoning for the eggplant," she said.

Bohnenkamp is growing eggplant from seed where she works at the Plymouth County Soil and Water Conservation District office. The tiny plants are kept in co-worker Chuck Hoelker's cubicle where they can reach the sunshine.

"I don't know what I'm doing with the eggplant," Bohnenkamp said. "It will be a learning experience."

Bohnenkamp and Hoelker, who is a farmer and plants a his own garden, often trade ideas when it comes to gardening.

"We mull things over," she said. "We'll share plants. All gardeners swap stories."

Bohnenkamp's husband, Larry, also takes a role with the garden. He waters it throughout the season and tills the dirt each spring.

Bohnenkamp also belongs to the Floyd Valley Garden Club and some of her produce is sold at its annual plant sale, which is May 30.

She plants as much produce as possible into her gardens, and when one plant is done for a season it leaves room for another to grow, Bohnenkamp said.

"We just pack everything in there, as long as it gets good air circulation and watering, it grows really well," she said.

It's not all about vegetables for Bohnenkamp. She also loves flowers, most of which are planted in pots and brought outside.

"My favorite now will be Wave petunias," she said. "They look like a mushroom coming up out of the pot and are low maintenance."

For other gardeners, Bohnenkamp has one main tip, "Never plant before Mother's Day."

She plans to continue gardening as long as she's able because for her it's an instinct she can't deny, Bohnenkamp said.

"In January and February I want to dig in the dirt," she said. "It's very relaxing to go out there."