A side yard on Line Street becomes a family vegetable garden
The 14-foot-tall sunflowers growing against a wall on Line
Street are hard to miss. But if that weren’t enough, the many
dozens of tomato plants, squash, zucchini, Swiss chard,
cantaloupes, watermelons, pumpkins and more draw attention to the
side lot at the house at 1010 Line Street.
A side yard on Line Street becomes a family vegetable garden
The 14-foot-tall sunflowers growing against a wall on Line Street are hard to miss. But if that weren’t enough, the many dozens of tomato plants, squash, zucchini, Swiss chard, cantaloupes, watermelons, pumpkins and more draw attention to the side lot at the house at 1010 Line Street.
Kelly Higgins moved into the home, owned by his brother-in-law Henry Verissimo, six months ago. A construction worker by trade, he decided to tackle the massive home garden in May.
“Work is slow so it is something to do to keep me busy,” Higgins said. “I had a contest with some of my friends out of Gilroy and Morgan Hill. We wanted to see who could grow the best garden.”
While Higgins’ garden is still producing plenty of vegetables – including 168 squash he picked one day last week – he said most of his friends stopped competing.
Higgins’ sister Pat, Henry’s wife, said the property used to be part of the Steinbeck Ranch.
“They had a dairy here,” she said.
Henry said the family plot was originally 20 acres, and was covered in apricot orchards. Now there are 3 and a half acres, including the side yard that Higgins has turned into a veritable smorgasbord of vegetables.
There are 15 different varieties of plants in the garden. Friends and family members gave Higgins seeds or transplants to put in.
“It’s all organic,” he said. “This whole thing, the soil is so good here.”
He used a tractor to level out the field and a friend lent him a rototiller to turn the dirt. He spends eight hours a week tending to the garden. Friends and family members stop by to collect each day’s harvest. On a recent morning, his sister Pat divvied up some squash, Swiss chard and other vegetables for some family members.
“We are very thankful he enjoys it,” Pat said. “We don’t have to go to the farmers market. We have our own family market.”
Higgins used to garden when he was a kid, but never tackled a project as big as his current project.
He said his friends did razz him a bit about his sunflowers. He has two types, the traditional yellow flowers that extend beyond the roof of his house. In the center of his garden, he has an area set up with smaller sunflowers that have dark red, orange and black colors on them.
In the front of the garden, his sense of humor comes out in a small mound of dirt that has skeleton feet and arms sticking out of it. A gravestone reads, “Here lies a pumpkin thief.”
Higgins said the pumpkins are the favorite of his plants.
“I like carving the kids’ names into them,” he said.
A great-great niece and a great-great nephew showed their pumpkins off with the names Emily and Julien. When the pumpkins are ready for harvest, the kids will pick them off the vine.
Higgins has plans for a winter garden with broccoli, cabbage and possibly fava beans. And for next year’s spring garden, he wants to do something three times as big.
“This soil is so fertile, it’s unbelievable,” he said.
