Archive for June, 2011

"America’s only growing resource is trash. Papercrete is just another useful way to recycle. I love turning recyclable material into dollars!"
– Lee Coates

By GEORGE FREEMAN

If half the fun of papercrete is making it, the other half is getting friends to try it. Or, if you’re Lee Coates, showing others how to make this do-it-yourself combination of recycled paper pulp, portland cement and perlite. Or selling his creations at the Greater Springfield Farmers Market or a dozen other events where he also delivers more formal presentations on Japanese Maples, hostas and other topics while he makes others laugh and maybe think twice.

Along the way, he’s likely to purchase myriad plants to bring back to Peggy’s Flowers, the wholesale/retail business he and Peggy Coates operate at Highlandville (he’s the former mayor who likes to call himself "Mr. Peggy.")

By GEORGE FREEMAN

It is now official: Nixa is an “Azalea City” as designated by the Azalea Society of America. That’s in addition to being one of the fastest growing communities in the U.S., and home of the annual Sucker Days, when visitors come to witness the miracle of feeding many mouths with the bottom-feeding, hard-to-catch fish.

Nixa’s prosperity can be seen up and down the thoroughfares, from upscale housing developments to the long list of national retailers, restaurants and box stores.

And yet there remains a yearning to be recognized. Say, like Augusta in springtime during that “tournament like no other” golf tournament.

Anyone who follows golf or longs for springtime after a long winter appreciates the salad of rich colors and greenery at Augusta where the Masters is played. In Nixa and nearby Fremont Hills, they know imitation is more than flattery. It’s also good business.

Hence, the Azalea craze, and the Nixa Azalea Association’s budding effort to turn the community into a gardening destination for fun, profit and a tapestry of color enjoyed by both residents and visitors.

By GEORGE FREEMAN

Let’s face it (and you already know this), growing your own isn’t for everyone. It’s hard, tedious, back- breaking work that requires both knowledge and constant knowledge. Despite your best efforts, one wrong move and the forces of nature can undo you.

But get it just right, and the satisfaction can exceed your wildest expectations.

You can ask Brenda Olcott-Reid, and her husband, Bill Reid, who live five miles east of Chetopa, Kansas, (For the geographically challenged, that 30 miles west of Joplin.) They operate Brenda’s Berry & Orchards, where she grows blackberries, raspberries, peaches, apples, pears and strawberries. From their harvest also comes more than two dozen jams and jellies.