By Renatta Signorini
LEADER TIMES
Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Randy and Leona Slama started growing their own lettuce after their daughter had a skin reaction to store-bought and organic varieties.
The red oak leaf and romaine lettuce the Slamas grow in their Shay, Kittanning Township, greenhouse is done hydroponically -- in a nutrient-infused water solution -- making it safe from potential contaminants such as insects and animals.

"It's very controlled," Randy Slama said. "You don't need pesticides, you don't need herbicides, there's no weeds."

Like many others in Armstrong County, the Slamas' home garden supplies the family with fresh-grown produce. But there are important measures local gardeners should take to protect their produce while it is growing outside.

With an outbreak of tainted commercially-grown tomatoes affecting the nation, some may opt to grow their own produce, said Ginger Steimer, master gardener coordinator at the county's Penn State Cooperative Extension. To keep zucchini, peppers and other vegetables safe, gardeners should protect the crops from animals whose droppings or saliva could contaminate the produce, she said.
Quality water should be used in a garden that is kept neat and free from dead leaves, she said. Steimer advised home gardeners to plant according to preference and need.

The Slamas' soil-free lettuce begins as a seed placed in rock wool, Leona Slama said. Two weeks later the seed and rock wool are transported into large wooden stands, each containing 50 gallons of water mixed with nutrients.

Each lettuce head is held in place through holes in a cover on the beds. The roots snake throughout the nutrient water, she said, pulling one of the heads out of the solution.

With very little maintenance, about 28 to 50 days later the lettuce is ready for consumption. Even a neighbor allergic to lettuce has been able to eat the Slama's produce, Leona Slama said.

The Slamas, master gardeners, began growing lettuce hydroponically about a year and a half ago.

Leona Slama likes it because she knows the lettuce is fresh, safe from animals and insects and hasn't traveled the country before landing in a salad, she said.

"I think people are being a lot more conscientious about these things, what they're putting in their bodies," she said.

The Slamas supply their crop to local grocery stores.

"We didn't exactly intend for it to turn into this much of a business," she said.

Customers who buy directly from the Slamas get the head of lettuce, roots and all, and can put it in water at home, Leona Slama said.

"It stays fresh a long, long time that way," she said.

Many people in the area have their own backyard garden for a variety of reasons, Steimer said.

"I think they're getting into it more because of issues like (the contamination) and because of the price of food," she said.

Some customers might be more apt to eat produce that they know was grown safely, as compared to not knowing under what conditions store-bought food was raised, Steimer said.

Rural areas tend to lend themselves to wildlife who may dine on plants in a home garden. Steimer said she planted lettuce and tomatoes and keeps them on her deck where deer are less likely to bother them.

But living amidst 40 acres of woodland in Templeton, Carol Shoup has tried store-bought sprays -- including freeze-dried coyote urine -- to keep the deer away. The urine has kept the animals away since she sprayed it on June 1, she said.

With "mild success," Shoup said she has used fencing and sprays that have a bad smell and taste to deter deer from damaging her mainly flower and shrub gardens.

"It they get hungry enough, that won't even stop them," she said.

Finding a variety of methods and products that work is the best way to combat wildlife, she said. Past produce gardens became a victim to deer, but Shoup said she plans to plant vegetables next year.

Tips for good food safety practices in home gardens:

• Keep a garden clear of decaying plant matter.

• Keep feeding stations for wildlife away from a garden.

• Use safe forms of water, from municipal or well sources. Water-borne bacteria in collected water sources could contaminate crops.

• Plant where wildlife might be less likely to browse.

• Keep wild animals and pets out of the garden, they could transmit potential illnesses through droppings and saliva.

• Wash produce.

Information from the Penn State Agricultural Sciences department

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