Pella Resident Launches Organic Produce Business, Offers Workshops

At age five, Louise Zaffiro had her own tiny plot in the family garden, and she has been a passionate gardener ever since. Ninety gardening books fill three shelves in her home at 928 Broadway in Pella, where she and her husband, Jim, have lived since 1986. A crucial criterion for their home purchase was plenty of room for a garden. And their deep yard is now filled with raised beds of herbs and vegetables, from their screened-in back porch to the alley. Some summers she has worked daily from dawn until dark in this backyard garden. Taking early retirement from a teaching position at Central College has allowed her to extend her growing season.

This year, with business partner Abby Zalcberg, Louise started a produce business, Prairie Roots, and began also growing organic produce on the Zaffiro’s 19-acre farm near Otley, Iowa.

For Louise, gardening organically is nothing new; it’s the way she has always raised plants. In a three-hour workshop on August 6, she shared her expertise with other area residents.

A high-energy and enthusiastic teacher, Louise provided attendees with a 12-page handout, spoke and answered questions, hosted a guided tour of her garden, and served taste samples of a few of her 30 varieties of tomatoes.

The workshop is part of an ongoing series sponsored by Empowered Health Resource, a holistic health and nutrition center recently opened by Sheryl Ellinwood.

“Organic gardeners strive to work with nature to care for our plants without using synthetic pesticides or synthetic fertilizers,” Louise told workshop attendees. “We try to achieve a healthy ecosystem and a balance in our gardens, letting nature control our pests as much as possible, but also tolerating some pest damage.”

She uses row covers, for example to protect fledgling eggplant from flea beetles until they are mature enough to withstand these pests. She rotates plant locations each year. She slits squash stems and removes squash borers. She inter-plants vegetables in combinations that have ecosystem synergy: interspersing lettuce and cabbage, planting alternating rows of leeks and kohlrabi, and surrounding tomato plants with basil.

Louise said she is an organic gardener for three reasons: the health of the environment, of the producer, and of the consumer.

She said pollution of air, water and soil has become a significant problem. As professors at Central College, the Zaffiros were key staff members in launching an environmental science major at the college. Organic gardening reduces harm to bees, earthworms, and other beneficial organisms as well as the amount of nitrogen leaching into ground water sources. Producers also benefit from organic practices. “When we apply pesticides in the garden or the field, we are exposing ourselves to a far larger and more dangerous dose of poison than by eating the small residues on produce. I have long been concerned for the farm laborers who have applied pesticides without protective clothing and have suffered from respiratory illnesses, cancer and birth defects as a result.”

Consumers also benefit. “When we eat produce applied with pesticides, we are exposing ourselves to an array of synthetic compounds, some of which are known carcinogens,” she said. “Many chemicals act synergistically, meaning that the combination is more harmful than the sum of them individually. We don’t even know the long-term effects of exposure to many synthetic chemicals.”

In addition to her commitment to organic produce, Louise is committed to offering a healthy range of food, growing and selling hard-to-find greens such as kale and Swiss chard. Prairie Roots produce is available at Pella Farmers Market on Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings throughout the summer.

In October, when the farmers market closes, Louise plans to continue selling produce through Empowered Health Resource at 711 Main Street in Pella, while supplies last.

If there is sufficient interest, she will also repeat the organic gardening workshop. Readers interested in attending a fall organic gardening workshop should inform Empowered Health Resource by calling 641-628-5334 or emailing sheryl@empoweredhealthresource.com.

Information courtesy The Write Place 081911

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Town Crier Ltd. or towncriernews.com.
Readers' responses are always welcomed.