NEW GLARUS - When Pam Walgren and her husband Dan Dooge moved from Verona to rural New Glarus, she put up a hedge around his garden because she didn't want to have to look at it. She thought gardens were messy and dirty.
Fifteen years later, she gardens fulltime on their 26-acre property, part of a former alfalfa field. She and Dooge together have built a gardening operation so bountiful they started selling at the Monroe Farmers' Market last year.
"They call me the Tomato Lady," Walgren said. In their first season at the market, she and Dooge, under the official name Perennial Journey, LLC, sold 2,000 pounds of tomatoes. The garden yields black tomatoes, ripe green tomatoes and purple, pink, yellow, orange and red tomatoes of all shapes. There's even a chocolate-striped tomato: "Gosh, that's beautiful."
Her change of heart on gardening started with her love of cooking, which eventually brought her to the source of the food she was cooking. In 2008, she left her job at the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, where she worked with corporate tax policy, to garden full-time.
Working in tax policy, "I spent a lot of time arguing with people," Walgren said. Now, "it is such a difference to do something I love to do and that people appreciate."
But selling produce isn't exactly a moneymaker, so Dooge still commutes to a job as a tax attorney in Middleton. Gardening is in his blood, however. His parents kept a garden when he was growing up in Jefferson.
The Perennial Journey garden looks different from the typical growing operation. All plants are grown in raised beds, without chemicals or fertilizers. Crops are rotated to keep the soil healthy, and Walgren and Dooge never till the soil.
"That helps the worms have a stable environment," Walgren said. What they've learned about commercial produce at the grocery store - for instance that tomatoes are often plucked green and forced to ripen off the vine to allow time for shipping long distances - has only fortified their resolve to stick with natural gardening methods.
"Our food tastes so fresh. You just don't get that a grocery store," Walgren said.
Most strikingly, their gardening operation is easy on the eyes and fits in with the overall landscaping on their property.
"We like things to be pretty as well as functional," she said.
Tomatoes are Perennial Journey's bread and butter (and will be available at the market starting in mid-July), but Walgren and Dooge grow an array of other vegetables, herbs and flowers, including a whole bed of healthy-looking varieties of basil - lemon basil, lime basil, Thai basil, Genovese basil, red rubin basil and more.
Dooge likes to freeze the basil in ice cubes to use in gin and tonics.
The couple has always cooked a lot with vegetables, but since they started gardening on a larger scale, they're even more voracious eaters of vegetables.
That and the hard work of gardening has changed the way they live: "We do not need a gym membership," Walgren said.
Grilled Romaine Salad
Red or green leaf romaine work for this "easy and excellent" recipe, said Walgren. She recommends making it for company or to take to a party since most people have never had it and enjoy the novelty.
Ingredients:
1 or 2 heads of romaine
Cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 carrot, shaved
Grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Rinse romaine and pat dry. Cut each head in half lengthwise so the root keeps each piece together. Lightly brush both sides of each piece with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Cook four to five minutes on a medium-hot grill, turning occasionally until romaine browns slightly on the outside but remains crisp inside.
Chop romaine into bite-sized pieces and arrange on serving platter. Sprinkle with Parmesan, top with cucumber, tomatoes and carrot and serve with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. (Optional: top with sliced or caramelized onion and sautéed mushrooms.)
Fifteen years later, she gardens fulltime on their 26-acre property, part of a former alfalfa field. She and Dooge together have built a gardening operation so bountiful they started selling at the Monroe Farmers' Market last year.
"They call me the Tomato Lady," Walgren said. In their first season at the market, she and Dooge, under the official name Perennial Journey, LLC, sold 2,000 pounds of tomatoes. The garden yields black tomatoes, ripe green tomatoes and purple, pink, yellow, orange and red tomatoes of all shapes. There's even a chocolate-striped tomato: "Gosh, that's beautiful."
Her change of heart on gardening started with her love of cooking, which eventually brought her to the source of the food she was cooking. In 2008, she left her job at the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, where she worked with corporate tax policy, to garden full-time.
Working in tax policy, "I spent a lot of time arguing with people," Walgren said. Now, "it is such a difference to do something I love to do and that people appreciate."
But selling produce isn't exactly a moneymaker, so Dooge still commutes to a job as a tax attorney in Middleton. Gardening is in his blood, however. His parents kept a garden when he was growing up in Jefferson.
The Perennial Journey garden looks different from the typical growing operation. All plants are grown in raised beds, without chemicals or fertilizers. Crops are rotated to keep the soil healthy, and Walgren and Dooge never till the soil.
"That helps the worms have a stable environment," Walgren said. What they've learned about commercial produce at the grocery store - for instance that tomatoes are often plucked green and forced to ripen off the vine to allow time for shipping long distances - has only fortified their resolve to stick with natural gardening methods.
"Our food tastes so fresh. You just don't get that a grocery store," Walgren said.
Most strikingly, their gardening operation is easy on the eyes and fits in with the overall landscaping on their property.
"We like things to be pretty as well as functional," she said.
Tomatoes are Perennial Journey's bread and butter (and will be available at the market starting in mid-July), but Walgren and Dooge grow an array of other vegetables, herbs and flowers, including a whole bed of healthy-looking varieties of basil - lemon basil, lime basil, Thai basil, Genovese basil, red rubin basil and more.
Dooge likes to freeze the basil in ice cubes to use in gin and tonics.
The couple has always cooked a lot with vegetables, but since they started gardening on a larger scale, they're even more voracious eaters of vegetables.
That and the hard work of gardening has changed the way they live: "We do not need a gym membership," Walgren said.
Grilled Romaine Salad
Red or green leaf romaine work for this "easy and excellent" recipe, said Walgren. She recommends making it for company or to take to a party since most people have never had it and enjoy the novelty.
Ingredients:
1 or 2 heads of romaine
Cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
1 carrot, shaved
Grated Parmesan cheese
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Rinse romaine and pat dry. Cut each head in half lengthwise so the root keeps each piece together. Lightly brush both sides of each piece with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Cook four to five minutes on a medium-hot grill, turning occasionally until romaine browns slightly on the outside but remains crisp inside.
Chop romaine into bite-sized pieces and arrange on serving platter. Sprinkle with Parmesan, top with cucumber, tomatoes and carrot and serve with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. (Optional: top with sliced or caramelized onion and sautéed mushrooms.)