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From Garden to Table<br />
Sweet or Savory:<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Iowa</strong> gardeners<br />
have a long-standing<br />
tradition of combining their<br />
love for fresh air, playing<br />
in the dirt, and enjoying<br />
the fruits – and vegetables<br />
– of their labors.<br />
BY Jenna Stevens<br />
eastern iowa farmer<br />
Rena Farrell started<br />
gardening when she and<br />
her husband, David,<br />
moved into their Bryant<br />
farmhouse in 1980.<br />
Her father-in-law was engaged in<br />
gardening and had planted several<br />
fruit trees on the property, including<br />
apple and cherry trees. They also<br />
had a large grape vine when she<br />
moved in.<br />
Farrell continued to nurture these<br />
plants and expanded her garden to<br />
include one of her most treasured<br />
items, her rhubarb patch.<br />
“The rhubarb came from a lady I<br />
used to work with at Blain’s Farm &<br />
Fleet,” Farrell said. “The woman’s<br />
husband did not want it anymore,<br />
so I dug it up and took it home. The<br />
patch has been at my place for at<br />
least 30 years now.”<br />
Raspberries are another specialty<br />
you can find on Farrell’s farm.<br />
102 <strong>Eastern</strong> <strong>Iowa</strong> <strong>Farmer</strong> | <strong>Fall</strong> <strong>2021</strong> eifarmer.com<br />
<strong>Eastern</strong><strong>Iowa</strong><strong>Farmer</strong>_<strong>Fall</strong><strong>2021</strong>.indd 102<br />
9/15/21 10:25 am
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