Unique structure, has folks wondering what Leo has growing in his garden

by Peter Jakey, Managing Editor

For county residents who invested their sweat equity in their garden during one of the hottest summers in recent memory, the rewards have been great. Even the frost held off in many areas to give local gardeners a little more time to reap their nurtured harvests. For Leo and Denyse Romel of Metz, right in the heart of Presque Isle County farm country, they?ve got a bountiful crop they?re not sure what to do with. Anyone who has driven along East Metz Highway, just east of the 441 intersection, has seen the contraption.

THERE ARE five, 13-foot poles sticking out of the ground, with additional poles running across the top. Hanging down from the poles are ropes that allow vines from a plant to climb and flourish. On the vines are tiny hop cones about an inch in length. Hops are used as a flavoring agent for beer.

Leo has no immediate plans to make his own batch of suds, mainly because he just doesn?t have the time, but there are other uses that might surprise some folks. ?I hear they are supposed to be real good for pillows,? said Leo. ?I?ve got a nephew who brews his own beer. I?m going to send some to him in Buffalo, New York.?

LEO GOT the seeds from Louie Lewandowski. ?I had ordered some a couple of years ago and planted them, but something dug them up and they never did grow. Louie wanted to get rid of his. ?I took the roots out — you just plant the roots to get them started.? Leo built the structure for the plants to grow on, and that they did, with the vines climbing over the top. Denyse wishes her husband had put the structure somewhere on their property, preferably out of the public eye. ?When he first put the poles up, I said, ?do they have to be that high? They look silly,? said Denyse.

?We?ve had people call just to ask, ?what the heck are you growing there?? Other people have asked, ?what do you got there? Beans. Are they beans? Are they grapes?? There have been a lot

of comments and a lot of questions.? ?It was just something different, that I wanted to try, and see how it works,? he said. ?I had seen something on TV where someone was growing them. I?ve got a lot to learn about them. It?s a learning process everyday.? LEO AND Denyse have nine children, ages 33 to 16. Therein lies the reason the couple doesn?t have enough time. There are not as many kids around, meaning there?s too much garden at the end of the harvest. Only their youngest, Judy, 16, is still in high school. ?We used to have 18 hands around,? said Leo. ?We are learning we may have to do some cutting back.?

Luckily, Denyse is a homemaker and is holding down the fort by preserving the fruits of their labor with canning and other techniques. Maybe next year they?ll find an easy brewing recipe. They have one major ingredient. Understanding, and finding the other ingredients, will probably be the next challenge ? unless Leo wants to grow those as well.