A Very Green Thumb

In 1970, 15-year-old Jim Tucker and his family left the hustle and bustle of Baltimore and moved to a peaceful, 10-acre plot of land in Caroline County, Md. The Tuckers lived in a small shed while they built their new home — there was no electricity, so a potbelly stove kept them warm during the cold winter months. Once the house was built, they cleared the 10 acres of trees and began farming the small plot, growing everything from corn to tobacco, and raising hogs and beef cattle. 
 

The family kept a large pantry full of canned vegetables and fruits that they had grown, and cooked dinner on a woodstove — life was simpler back then. Five decades later, Tucker is preserving his parents' memory and their passion for growing their own food with a backyard garden at his home in Hartly, Del.

Tucker began experimenting with gardening back in the early 1980s. “I was testing to see what I could and couldn’t grow because I only have 6 hours of direct sunlight. That first year I tried sweet corn, green beans, tomatoes and radishes and not everything produced.” Tucker’s property is nestled in the middle of a Kent County forest, and during that first year, the novice gardener learned that his backyard didn’t receive enough sunlight to grow corn or potatoes. Over the years, he’s been able to successfully grow just about every other vegetable you can think of including lima beans, varieties of peppers, peas, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and more. 
 

Since the 1980s, the garden has grown to cover more than a quarter-acre, and now includes a berry patch that produces delicious blueberries, raspberries and blackberries from June through early August. Visitors to his home may hear country music or bluegrass blaring from a radio inside his greenhouse, where he starts many of his plants in April. Like the shed where he started his life on Delmarva, the greenhouse is heated with a woodstove on freezing spring nights.
 

Tucker generally plants his vegetables the second week of May and spends the rest of the summer weeding his garden by hand. He determines how much fertilizer and nutrients to apply based on soil tests. By July, his garden resembles a tropical jungle, with vivid green leaves rising more than 8 feet into the air. To support his plants, he builds an elaborate trellis system each summer, using twine, wire and stakes. 
 

During the summer months on dry, sunny days, you’ll find Tucker weeding, watering and pruning his garden from 6:30 a.m. until the middle of the day — he spends more than 6 hours a day tending to his green patch of plant paradise. “I worked as a UPS driver for 34 years. When I retired, I told myself I was going to keep moving and keep doing physical activity, and believe me, it takes a lot of physical activity to keep up with the garden,” he says. It’s a labor of love — a passion that even inspired one of his neighbors to see if they have a green thumb. “Her kids would come over and eat fresh fruits and vegetables and she decided she wanted a big garden. We planted it together and now her kids can see that food doesn’t always have to come from a store.” 
 

Tucker says the best part of gardening is seeing his friends and family enjoy his garden’s bounty. He’s feeding them healthy, locally grown food — and keeping his parent’s legacy alive with every seed he plants. “Mom and Dad would be proud. My wife, kids and I will sit on the deck eating fresh salsa made with vegetables I grew. Then, we’ll go back in the berry patch for dessert. For dinner, we’ll open a jar of green beans we canned the prior summer. It’s a great feeling and makes it worth all the hard work.”