By Abagail Barnes
You can take the man off the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the man.
Larry Grose is proof of that.
After losing his leg, he was forced to take up residence at Mount Ayr Health Care. But, that didn’t stop him from continuing to “farm”.
Thanks to the center’s owners, Travis and HollyHinz, Grose is growing beans, peppers, radishes, zucchini, peas, strawberries, onions and tomatoes in a raised garden bed built especially for him.
He has been gardening ever since he was married and is something that he really enjoys.
“Gardening has been Grose’s life and we tried to make sure that he still has that option,” said Hinz.
Grose says that he is growing vegetables that all people in the center can eat for fun. Grose’s favorite vegetable to grow is tomatoes.
He loves tomatoes and can remember eating them out of the garden as a kid.
In his later years in life he grew tomatoes that stood taller than himself.
At the health care center he spends three to fours in his garden each day. The other residents at the center also favor the tomatoes.
“There are a lot of times your food is cleaned, processed and all so you don’t worry about worms, but when you’re eating stuff out of the dirt at home and you don’t wash it you must check.” states Grose.
Each day Grose also pulls weeds and mixes the soil to bring nutrients to the surface. The Hinzs’ help him do things that he cannot do on his own.
Grose does not know if he will be able to grow some vegetables indoors over the winter. He said it might be possible but he needs to look further into it.
Grose lost a leg, but he does not let that stop him from doing what he loves, he may sometimes have to ask for help on things he cannot do, but he makes sure to do as much as he can himself.
He loves to talk and explain to others what he has done and what he is planning to do with his produce.
Grose loves to give what he has grown to the community, and share with others.
