We talk a lot about how we grow and garden. But here’s where we get to hear from YOU! In each edition, we’ll celebrate one of you intrepid hands-in-the-dirt types by sharing your experience, tales, and tips for healthy and happy growing in Nevada (and beyond) … the Full Circle way!
The Contest
Back in December, we held a holiday giveaway / story contest to honor some good folks doing great things with our products. The prize? A wheelbarrow full of garden goodies destined to the most vote-catching submission. Many of you entered stories and many of you voted. (Awesome!) We LOVED all the fantastic responses from green-thumbers, up-and-comers, educators & beyond.
And now, we are proud to introduce our First Ever Full Circle Featured Grower, handpicked (with nearly 70 votes) by our very own fans …
Jay Quiggle from Sparks, NV
Uncle Joe’s Darn Red Onions
Jay Quiggle: Old Gardener, New Tricks
When we say Jay is an “old school” gardener, we mean it. His Uncle Joe taught him to raise plants when he was a kid, and he’s been doing it ever since. Not just in the same way, but with the same plants … Jay’s “darn red onions” are descendants of the ones Uncle Joe hand-carried over from Italy 100 years ago!
Speaking of history, Jay is known in his neighborhood for growing (and exhibiting on his front porch) the biggest mega-pumpkins his neighbors ever saw … some up to 370 pounds! Perhaps that’s why, whenever Jay’s daughter and her boyfriend (themselves Full Circle devotees) suggested he add some of our compost to his Uncle Joe Darn Red Onion growing regimen, he dug in his heels.
But this year, Jay gave in, adding BOOST to his soil and a weekly dose of PUNCH to his red onions’ diet. The results? We’ll let Jay sum it up …“You see, there are three kinds of onions (and men): small, medium, and OH MY GOD! … This season was one of those OH MY GOD seasons!”
Jay is proud to honor Uncle Joe by carrying on his family’s legacy each year, and we’re thrilled our products are now a part of that. Of course, if Uncle Joe found out what Jay was doing to his red onions with all that all-natural organic compost stuff, we think he’d probably turn over … the biggest crop bounty he’s ever seen!
Big Pumpkin-in’
A Note from Jay
“I always had an “itching” to get down and dirty in the soil. Ten years ago we drove out to Full Circle Compost looking for something different that might improve my gardening success. I took a yard of that beautiful compost home and mixed it with my soil. WOW! I soon realized how important composting was for any successful gardener.
“We’ve always had fun growing humongous pumpkins, year after year. We’ve been growing Big Pumpkins since before Big Pumpkins were cool. 379 pounds was the biggest for our Pumpkin and Squampkin (a squampkin is green)–not bad, considering us living in this microclimate. The seeds I gave Farmer Craig are seeds from the original ones we grew over 30 years ago. Maybe they are acclimated for this rugged Nevada climate by now!
Plum Quality Control
Tomato Testers
“We have 2 Italian Prune trees; we love making jams an dehydrating them. Uncle Joe was quite the gardener. We’d get a load of cow manure every fall and he would work it by hand. Joe grew about 30 tomato plants every year and loved to share the harvest with neighbors, family and friends.
“Onions, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, sunflowers and, of course, pumpkins are the favorites in our garden. My pieces of advice to any passionate gardener here in Nevada are:
- Protect your garden from those terrible “breezes”
- Watch out for those quail (but we all love watching them anyway!)
- Did I mention the squirrels? I’m not talking about the Bullwinkle and Rocky cartoon. These ones out here can devastate a garden!
- Be careful about the hail, hard rain, and whatever else Mother Nature can throw at us
“Anyhow, my wife Ruth and I are thrilled with all the goodies Farmer Craig dropped off and can’t wait to put them to work. Thank you, Full Circle Soils & Compost!
“Oh, and if anyone in Nevada wants to have a pumpkin weigh-off contest … let me know!”
Thanks, Jay Quiggle, and happy growing!
Jay’s Gals: Wife Ruth and Daughter Angie
