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Saturday, July 27, 2002

By Susan Banks, Post-Gazette Garden Editor

In the old days, a trip to Brenckle's Farm in Reserve meant summer vacation was on the way. It also meant that my father, uncle and grandfather were getting ready to plant their vegetable gardens.
In those days, no plant went into the soil until Memorial Day. So, with summer vacation right around the corner, we'd jump into the car and take the trip through the rolling hillsides to visit the small roadside stand. Once there, old men pulled tomatoes and peppers -- bare root from hotbeds -- and bundled them into newspaper packets secured with a rubber band. We'd make our way home and plant the garden, secure in the knowledge that school would soon be out.

	Lois Brenckle introduced flowers to the family business years ago when she asked her father-in-law for some space to plant petunias. (Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette) Brenckle's has two locations -- 3814 Mt. Troy Road, Reserve (412-821-2566) and 543 Evans City Road, Butler (724-482-2353). Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

It's rare that childhood memories stand up to time, but the Brenckle's of today far outstrips the faded memories of decades ago, and it is still a destination of choice for those who want quality plants.

Yes, you can still get tomato and pepper plants, mostly bought in singles these days. But what Brenckle's really excels at is ornamental or "bedding" plants. Petunias, marigolds, impatiens and begonias are available in a wide array of shapes, colors and sizes. Looking for perennials? They've got those. Need stunning hanging baskets or planters? One is more amazing than the next.

In the spring, about two acres of visual overload fill the Reserve greenhouses that spill over the hillside behind the old roadside stand. It's hard to believe it all started with a humble bed of petunias.

When Alfred C. Brenckle bought the property more than 75 years ago to establish a truck farm, growing ornamental plants was never in the plan. He farmed about 15 acres and took the produce to wholesalers in the Strip District. His son, Alfred A. Brenckle, and his wife, Lois, followed the family farming tradition. In the spring, they would sell vegetable plants to home gardeners at a small stand across the street from their house.

One year, Lois asked her father-in-law for some space in the hot beds to grow petunias, saying she would sell what she didn't use. He allotted her half a hotbed and told her, "If you don't sell these, you're gonna eat them."

"You didn't grow anything you couldn't eat," she remembers with a laugh. "That's how the old Germans were. But they gave in when the flowers took off."

	Mid-summer is bargain time for annuals Even though it's not too late to put annuals in the garden, most Pittsburghers quit planting by the end of June. But those few who realize we still have a couple of months of good weather ahead of us can find some good bargains at area nurseries. Don Brenckle, co-owner of Brenckle's Greenhouses, says people are still buying annuals this late in the season. His Reserve greenhouse has quite a few annuals, hanging baskets and planters for sale, all at reduced prices. "You'd be surprised [at how much sells]. A little bit goes every day," he says. "People come in because they want to dress up a party or they want a few fresh baskets. We reduce the prices, and when it's all said and done, it's not very much that we throw away."

Today, the business consists of two retail stores, 300 acres of farmland in Butler County and 46 greenhouses, where the family grows almost all the ornamental plants they sell. Lois and Alfred's sons Gary and Don, who grew up farming with their late father and grandfather, have carried on the tradition.

Their prosperity has not come easily. Don remembers using horses to farm into the '70s because it was dangerous to use a tractor on the steep slopes in Reserve. When Gary decided to buy property in Butler County to expand the farming operation, their father wasn't convinced they could make a go of it so far from the Strip District. But the boys persevered and started out with 50 acres, an old house with no bathroom, where Gary lived, and a trailer, where Don lived. Now, almost 30 years later, they own four farms in Butler along with the original 12 acres in Reserve.

The brothers complement one another. Gary, short, dark-haired and stocky, oversees produce production and the Butler store. His immaculate fields are full of sweet corn (their largest crop) and kale, collard greens, zucchini, cucumbers, hot peppers, eggplant, cantaloupe, watermelon, and several varieties of tomatoes and cabbage. Some is sold in their stores but most goes to a local wholesaler.

Don, tall, blond and usually seen with a cigar in hand, oversees the greenhouse business and runs the store in Reserve.

Unlike the farming end of the operation, flower production runs pretty much year-round. Seeds are ordered in December and sowed starting in January, when Dianthus, pansies and violas are put in and placed on heated benches in the greenhouses. This past season, the brothers grew more than 50,000 geraniums from cuttings. In February, they planted more than 500 moss baskets, 500 14-inch containers and more than 2,000 12-inch baskets. That's more than 3,000 planters, which then have to be watered and fertilized until the time comes to sell them.

Once the plants are moved to the two stores, it becomes a constant battle to keep things looking good for the customers. In fact, when they open the Reserve operation in the spring, Don and his wife, Joan, rent a motel room close by for several weeks rather than make the commute back and forth from Butler.

	Brenckle's Farm had its beginnings on the Reserve property Alfred C. Brenckle bought more than 75 years ago. He farmed about 15 acres and took the produce to wholesalers in the Strip District. It now includes two retail stores, acres of farmland and 46 greenhouses there and in Butler. (Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette)

Quality and variety is something the brothers strive for, and it's evident when you see their plants. Lush, healthy plants are everywhere. Even in July, when the planting season is winding down, both stores still have an interesting variety of annuals, hanging baskets and planters.

Even now, this late in the season, the workload doesn't lighten. In this heat, watering plants every single day is essential.

"If you walk away from a plant for one day, it's dead," says Gary.

If you visit the store in Reserve, it's not unusual to see Don doing the watering. Just look for the tall guy with the cigar.

When it comes to choosing what they'll sell each year, Joan says, Don's like a "kid in a candy shop." He likes to try a little bit of everything, but he also must take into account what was popular the previous season.

"We never run out of anything," says Don, laughing. "The key is choice, and then you overwhelm people [with selection]. We try hard and we work hard at it."

With the bedding plants now out of the greenhouses, the brothers are planting chrysanthemums for fall, about 15,000 of them, while simultaneously harvesting produce. Once the chrysanthemums move out of the greenhouses, poinsettias replace them. Don jokes that the only time they really have off is the week between Christmas and New Year's.

Of course, with an operation this large, the brothers and their wives need help. Just like the boys, who followed behind their father and his team of work horses, the next generation of Brenckles are coming up to take the reins. All seven of their children are involved in the business.

	Don, left and Gary, who now run the family operation, gather cucumbers on the farm in Butler County. (Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette)

"All my grandchildren are interested [in the business]," says Lois Brenckle. "They all help. Young Donnie is into the greenhouse and young Gary is all for the farm and equipment, just like their fathers. I am so blessed."

Don said love of the work runs in the family. When asked why he stayed in such a labor-intensive business, Don shrugs and says, "All we knew how to do is work. Our Dad trained us well. The people keep me going. The barn swallows and the customers keep coming back every year."

His mother adds, "My kids worked all the time. They'd be sweating out in the fields while the other kids were swimming and playing. But they stuck by their dad. They gave up a little of their childhood, and now it's paying off."

So while Lois never had to eat a flower, it can be said that flowers feed her family. By the way, she still plants petunias in front of the house.