“I chose long ago to get good at one thing … and I like to eat.”

Gloucester Master Gardener Bob Beyea of Adner grew up on a farm in upstate New York and has continued his passion for growing vegetables throughout his life.

Even when he served in the Navy, he always found a way to grow his plants. “I was growing something one way or another,” said Beyea.

He was able to have a large garden in Virginia Beach when he was stationed there for seven years. Now, he has a 14,000-square-foot garden at his Adner home.

“I try growing just about everything,” said Beyea.

Twelve years ago Beyea joined the Gloucester Master Gardeners and has served two terms as president. He also manages the garden group’s helpline and gives one lecture every month at Brent and Becky’s Bulbs.

“It keeps me busy,” he said.

He also helps plan for the organization’s annual plant extravaganza at the Gloucester Moose Lodge.

“I’ve already got plants started for it,” he said.

At his home, Beyea plants potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, lettuce, blueberry bushes, strawberries, squash, herbs and more. He also tries to grow something new every year.

“It takes a lot of work and effort,” said Beyea. “I don’t use power tools. Everything’s done by hand.”

Right now, Beyea is working on his second high tunnel, which is a no-heat greenhouse. High tunnels protect the plant through the winter. Beyea said some plants can freeze and be fine come spring, but the exposure to wind can break the plant and kill it.

First steps

“The garden’s my sanctuary,” said Beyea.

Growing a garden is an important skill to learn, according to Beyea.

“Gardening is the skill that built civilization,” he said. “It’s a basic skill. Sometimes people forget that.”

For those brand-new to gardening, Beyea cautions starting small. He advises beginners to find a sunny spot in their yard, place cardboard over that spot and cover the cardboard with bags of soil. This will kill weeds and grass, making clearing a spot to plant much easier.

“You can set that up in a matter of an hour,” said Beyea.

This way, beginners can learn if they like gardening or not while keeping their yards intact.

“Start small,” he said.

Vegetables Beyea recommends for beginners to start with include onion sets, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers and cabbage.

One important piece of advice from Beyea to remember is that no two people have the same situation, and growing vegetables takes rounds of trial and error.

Beyea also recommends that gardeners walk their garden every day or every other day to look for problems and to nip them in the bud before bigger problems arise.

“Observation at least every other day makes gardening a lot easier,” he said. “Healthier plants are not as susceptible to bugs and disease.”

As for pests, Beyea will handpick the few bugs he does see on his plants from time to time. If a bug-killer spray is absolutely needed to remove stubborn pests, Beyea said to buy the appropriate spray and “follow the directions on the label.”

This season

Planting has been a bit different this year due to all the wet weather and Beyea has had to postpone some projects. “You don’t want to work wet soil.”

Waiting for conditions to be right for planting is better than planting right away, according to Beyea. Seeds can rot if planted in soil that is too wet.

“This has been a very wet season,” said Beyea.

Helpline

Those who have gardening questions can contact the Virginia Cooperative Extension (Gloucester: 804-693-2602; Mathews: 804-725-7196) and leave a message. The issue will be assigned to a Master Gardener that specializes in that area, issue or problem.

“It’s a way people can get help if they run into problems,” said Beyea.

Lectures and meetings of the Gloucester Master Gardeners are open to the public. The group is beginning to take names for the class to become a master gardener, which runs from August through November.

“We’re basically an educational group,” said Beyea.