Gardener grows into role helping the hungry

What's the point of retiring if you can't do what you enjoy, Mel Zuehlke reasons.

Working a full-time job never left him enough time to give gardening his undivided attention - and he really wanted to nurture a garden.

One of his first tasks, then, upon leaving BP Amoco 10 years ago was to sign up for a plot in the St. Charles community garden. That quickly grew to two plots. And then he became a master gardener. And then he added a third plot.

All that open soil just begged for more plants and Zuehlke was happy to oblige with the vegetables he and his wife, Bea, enjoy: squash, beans, tomatoes, beets, lettuce, chard, raspberries, strawberries.

It wasn't long before those veggies were getting the best of the 78-year-old retired engineer and his wife, so they started passing them out to the neighbors.

"We use an awful lot," he said, but sometimes there's just far too much to cook.

While working as a master gardener Zuehlke learned of another outlet for his unusually abundant tomatoes, squash or beans - Plant a Row for the Hungry, the program that encourages gardeners to drop off produce at local food pantries. It's sponsored nationally by the Garden Writers Association and organized locally by the Daily Herald.

Northern Illinois Food Bank in St. Charles entered the picture at that stage in Zuehlke's garden evolution.

He had delivered his vegetables there for several years after learning the pantry helped organize Plant a Row for the Hungry and also served as a drop-off site for gardeners to contribute produce. One day, he decided to stop in and volunteer his services in other ways, as well. So one morning a week, he sorts donations, packs food for delivery to member agencies or handles whatever's needed.

It's sort of a full-service donation plan: he grows the food, delivers it, then helps pack it for distribution, as well.

Last year, his donations to Plant a Row were rooted in some highly prolific bean plants. This year, it's looking like he'll be swimming in squash.

Nearly every day he pedals his mountain bike several miles to the garden plots to make sure everything's progressing on schedule. Inevitably, he'll find something to pick and take home - for his family, and for others.