People benefit from Widler's gardening hobby
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Ron Widler of Marion has the distinction of operating the only dry cleaning business in the county, Ron's Cleaners.
He also is an avid gardener and gives away a ton of vegetables every spring and summer to friends, neighbors, and relatives.
Widler and his wife Dorothy live at 212 S. Cedar in Marion, but they own a six-acre patch of ground at Marion County Lake where he runs a couple of horses and has a large fenced, well-kept garden.
Widler grows all the common spring and summer vegetables and has a large patch of asparagus.
He has a huge patch of sweet corn planted in stages for extended production. A long row of well-staked tomatoes is loaded with large fruit which just now are beginning to ripen.
Cucumber and cantaloupe plants also are in abundance, as well as a row of okra. Several huge zucchini plants are sure to be prolific producers.
The 71-year-old man has cut down on the number of hours his business is open, so he has plenty of time to tend to the garden.
He plants the rows far enough apart to use his Troy-bilt, rear-tine, roto-tiller to control most of the weeds, but he has to pull the weeds that come up in the row. He has a well and connects several sprinklers at a time to keep the garden watered.
A strong three-rail fence made out of landscape timbers and lined with chain-link fencing keeps wandering dogs out.
Widler came into possession of the garden through his son Steve, who bought the original two acres while in college in 1974 and broke up a plot of ground for a garden.
His hope to build a house there some day didn't materialize, and Widler bought the property from him, adding several adjoining acres later.
Manure from his horses and some additional commercial fertilizer is applied to keep the soil in top condition.
Although some garden produce is preserved for winter eating, most of it is given away. Dorothy makes salsa, some of which is sold at their church's Lord's Acre auction.
"It seems the garden just keeps getting bigger and bigger the older we get," Dorothy said.
Widler's only explanation is, "I just enjoy growing things."
