Small WMC garden is more than pretty colors

Kristin Fankhauser and her children, Lucas and Lydia, tour WMC's Edible Landscape.

(Story and photos by Decorahnews.com's Bob Modersohn)

Tucked inside a courtyard, Winneshiek Medical Center's Edible Landscape is 8,230 square feet in size. Picture a plot that's roughly a compact 80 feet by 100 feet square. A colorful perennial plant-lined walkway between buildings leads to the veggie garden.

"Last year we had approximately 1,800 pounds of produce with a value of about $2,600," said Joetta Redlin, director of nutrition services at the hospital. "The vegetables that we receive from the garden include kale, broccoli, Swiss chard, cabbage, leeks, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini, summer squash, butternut squash, tomatoes and basil, to name a few." She said that one-third to one-half of the produce used in the hospital's cooking comes from the garden during the producing months. It's hard to quote an exact figure because they freeze many of the items to have on hand for soups, and excess herbs are dried for use all year long. "We try to utilize as much of the produce on hand as we can," she said.

Expert gardener David Cavagnaro and his Pepperfield Project team, a non-profit organization located in Decorah, plants, tends and harvests the mixture of vegetables and perennials, while Winneshiek Medical Center Nutrition Services staff processes and serves the food.

Kristin Fankhauser and her children, Lucas and Lydia, tour WMC's Edible Landscape.