|
Newspaper Columns >
Even When The Gardening's Done
Chuck Has PLENTY To Do!
by Carol Breidenbach
Farmland News
11 November 2003
Like an oasis in the desert, Chuck Sattler's garden appears in the middle of the city of Maumee . An acre in size, it is located along heavily traveled Michigan Avenue at the corner of Crystal. Chuck tells us the garden site is the Boellner family homestead and has been in the family over 125 years. His mother was born there in 1895.
Known as the Boellner Goat Farm, during full operation it featured 200 milk goats and 65 acres of productive farmland. After Chuck's grandparents died, Uncles Eddy and Tony Boellner ran the dairy until the City of Maumee annexed the property in 1956 and the goats became illegal.
"My uncles didn't put up too much of a fuss, they just went with the flow" Chuck says.
 When harvest season rolled around, Chuck shared the bounty of his one-acre garden with friends, neighbors, family members and anyone else who could use some vegetables. "They kept a little over two acres of land along Michigan Avenue and sold the rest to developers." "Uncle Eddy lived in the family farmhouse on the property and Uncle Tony lived in a house he'd moved to the south side of the property along Crystal Avenue because it was going to be torn down for the turnpike.
Chuck, meanwhile, was born and raised on a farm on U.S. Route 20 about 3 miles east of Perrysburg. His father, Aloysius, was a farmer and his mother, Cecelia was a homemaker. "My earliest memory of living on the farm is the threshing machine coming down the road to thresh at our farm" he says. "Like all farm kids, my four brothers and I worked hard." "We raised five acres of tomatoes and picked them after school with the help of one hired hand."
"Dad had 75 acres of his own and eventually rented an additional 182 acres." "In addition to the tomatoes, we raised soybeans, corn, wheat, oats and alfalfa." "Dad rotated crops religiously and the Alfalfa built the soil up." "We also had milk cows and horses until 1945 when Dad got a Farmall A."
" While growing up, we made our own fun by digging tunnels in the haystack and jumping off a balcony into the straw stack." " We took radishes and apples up to the straw mow and had a feast." "Crane Creek ran through our farm and we caught carp and grassy pike when they came up from the lake in the spring."
When he was ten years old, Chuck's mother got him interested in gardening. She was looking through a Henry Field seed catalog and it offered a collection of seeds for a child's garden. She wondered if he would like his own garden since, being the youngest child, he always helped with hers. He planted those seeds and when the plants thrived, a lifelong interest in gardening began.
Chuck graduated from Perrysburg H.S. in 1953 and he plans to attend his 50th class reunion this year. When he turned 18, he got a production bending job at Libbey Owens Ford plant in Rossford. After two years, he worked himself into the mold shop and later transferred into the maintenance department as a millwright. He retired 16 years ago after a 34-year career. Retirement has been an easy transition for him because he enjoys doing so many things.
A Second Chance
He met his wife, the former Nancy Cook at the 25th Wedding anniversary celebration of his aunt & uncle Brownie & Bea Sattler at the Lime City Hall. "Their son ... my cousin ... had married Nancy's sister a couple of months earlier and Nancy had been the maid of honor. "Somehow, I'd missed meeting her at the wedding. "But when they brought Nancy along for the celebration, I got a second chance. We dated for three years and we were married in 1957 in St. Joseph's Church in Maumee."
Chuck had a garden on his parents farm when first married until they moved to Perrysburg in 1962. "Our home had a nice sunny lot and I had a nice garden there, he says. But in 1974 we moved into our current home on Beverly Drive in Toledo. It would have been just about impossible to have a garden here because the yard is heavily shaded and filled with black walnut trees." "The black walnut roots produce a substance that's toxic to many common garden plants, especially tomato and potatoes." Chuck says.
So his gardening came to a halt.
Valuable Tips!
But two decades later, things change. "Eight or nine years ago," Chuck says, "Uncle Eddie cut back on his gardening at the Michigan Avenue location and he offered me some space. and the opportunity to learn more about gardening from him." "I used to just stake my tomatoes and cut the suckers off, but he didn't cut his." "He staked and caged his tomatoes and mulched them with horse manure, from my cousin, Steven Sattler's riding stable." Chuck saves a lot of back breaking work preparing the garden in the spring and cultivating between the rows by using his uncle's tractor and rototiller.
Along with 75 tomato plants, he grows lima and green beans, summer and winter squash, beets, turnips, onions, cucumbers, lettuce and pumpkins. A few flowers are included among the vegetables for interest and color ... and they're a good source of bouquets for Nancy. He plants his first sweet corn early in the spring and puts in two more rows every week until July 1st.
Since he is always open to trying new things, this year he grew leeks and potatoes. "The leeks are a little sweet and I found that I prefer the flavor of onions in cooking." " The potatoes were red skins and Yukon Gold and they did very well." " Sometimes when the garden stores have plants on clearance, I pick up something different just for fun" Chuck says.
"A friend gave me a European Winter Squash last year and I liked it so much I saved the seeds, which are about the size of a quarter, and planted them" Chuck says.
"My wife and I can about 21 quarts of the green beans with vinegar so they are ready to make three bean salad. We also canned 97 quarts of tomatoes for ourselves and family members and froze 72 packages of sweet corn. For the most part gardening is sheer pleasure and enjoyment for me and I spend up to 20 hours a week in my garden during the busy season" Chuck says.
Sweet Corn, Anyone?
What does he do with all those vegetables? After they've preserved all they need, he and Nancy give the rest to family members, friends and neighbors. Nothing ever goes to waste, he always finds someone who can use them. When people stop to see his garden and chat, he is delighted.
"I hosted a tour for the Sylvania Franciscan Elderly Care Center and they enjoyed seeing the vegetables and my garden equipment so much that they stayed and had their picnic on the grounds instead of going to a park" Chuck says. "I sent them back with enough vegetables to fill their table for a while."
Even though his garden is in the middle of Maumee, Chuck ... like all gardeners ... has to deal with pests. Raccoons wreck havoc on part of his sweet corn, but fortunately, leave enough for him. At his uncle's suggestion, he applies pesticides to his bean plants with a sprinkling can because, as he says, "It gets down in better that way."
Rubbing Noses
Before you get the idea that Chuck looks at seed catalogues all winter long, you need to know that he has other hobbies. He is an award winning photographer and carpenter. He has always enjoyed taking pictures of his family but he became serious about photography when he started traveling with Nancy after retirement.
 Chuck snapped this picture during a recent visit to the Butterfly House not far from Whitehouse. " In l993 we went to Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and Mount Rushmore and I took a picture of a mother prairie dog and her offspring rubbing noses, which is part of their bonding process" Chuck says. "At the Toledo Photo Arts Club's open house at the Toledo Botanical Gardens, I got into a conversation with a gentlemen about that picture and he suggested I enter into the club's upcoming photo contest." "It won first place in the People's Choice category and the prize was a club membership." He's been an active member ever since and he really enjoys competing in club photo competitions and learning from his fellow members.
He also builds and refinishes furniture. "I got started refinishing furniture 20 years ago when I refinished a secretary desk from my parents home," he says. " In high school I took a year of mechanical drawing and then a year of wood working." " My first project was a gun rack which I designed, drew the pattern for and made." " I got an A plus on that gun rack and I regret that I no longer have it."
"I never had room for a workshop until we bought this home and found the garage was set up with a wood burner, 220 power supply and workshop space." " By the time I retired, I had bought enough tools that my workshop was fully equipped and I intended to start a little business as a sideline" "But making things for family and charity has kept me so busy that I never got around to starting the business."
Chuck designed and made a very special cradle, for his first grand daughter, Aimee Simmons. Her family tree is wood burned in base of the cradle, and on the bottom of the base he wood burned her genealogy. Two of the names listed are great grandfathers on his mother's side, Peter Boellner and Peter Zwyer. Both were born in 1822 and it is believed they came to America on the same ship from Bavaria, Germany. Their two children Andrew Boellner and Matilda Zwyer (Chuck's grandparents) married. The cradle won "Best of Show" at the Lucas County Fair.
He has made rocking chairs, wooden towel racks, quilt racks, cradles, and photo frames for family, friends and charitable auctions. Chuck also made the stands for the Chapel at Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish where he is a member.
When asked if people are grateful for all the vegetables he shares Chuck said that indeed they are generous in return. He has received fresh baked pies and other homemade delicacies, packages of frozen trout and even a potato fork to replace his broken shovel. Chuck is happy and fulfilled ... never bored in retirement ... his generosity is an example to us all.
| 
