News
ENLARGE
NEW CASTLE, Colorado — After more than an hour of sharing his life, Scott Niemann smiled and almost laughed.
“It’s quite a story,” he said, eyes shining.
And that’s no lie.
He was sitting at his kitchen table with his wife, Birgie. In their mid-50s, the couple seem unlikely believers in organic food. Yet that’s exactly what they are. Recently, they opened up Niemann’s Gardens of New Castle, a garden center based at their home. While they sell traditional fertilizers, seeds and much more, they also carry a full line of organic products. For them, said Scott, going organic isn’t a fad. It’s their life now.
“We’ve been processed so much,” he said, of modern-day food.
“Organics is about sustaining the earth,” added Birgie. “And community is about sustaining our value as people.”
For them, these ideas are completely intertwined. As they talked about their business, they sounded so vested and excited. Though Scott was born into gardening (when he was 2, his parents bought Glenwood Floral, which he would later run himself), he never thought he’d come back to the business. He’d lived a lot of life since his old gardening days.
You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but he’s an amputee. A diabetic since 1981, Scott lost his right leg below the knee almost a decade ago. In the last year, he’s lost all the toes on his remaining foot, as well. Scott is a widower. His first wife, Janice, died from the same disease in 1992. She had been blind from it for 15 years.
As he listed off these events, he sounded serious, but he wasn’t wallowing in the sadness. It’s easy to imagine that he could have lost hope somewhere in his past. But that’s just not how he went about things. Even as he mentioned his hard days, he was upbeat — downright funny at times.
“Like anybody else, I was kind of attached to my leg,” he joked.
He and Birgie then looked at each other and laughed.
She recalled that when he knew he was going to lose the limb, he had her send out an e-mail request to their friends. He wanted all the one-legged jokes he could find. Scott’s “self-pity parties,” have been very, very rare, she said.
And you can tell that’s part of why she loves him. When they met, she explained, she was recently divorced and didn’t really trust men. It was late 1992, and she was working as the editor of the alumnus magazine for York College in Nebraska. Though they hadn’t all known each other well, Birgie had actually gone to school with Scott and Janice. When Scott submitted Janice’s obituary to the publication, Birgie was so touched by her life that she wrote a story on her. Soon, Birgie and Scott, both single parents, got to talking regularly. After six weeks, Birgie came to visit Glenwood and this new man. Though she hadn’t been expecting it, she fell in love with both.
“Oh, this a God thing,” she remembered thinking.
They were married a year later.
“It’s quite a story,” he said, eyes shining.
And that’s no lie.
He was sitting at his kitchen table with his wife, Birgie. In their mid-50s, the couple seem unlikely believers in organic food. Yet that’s exactly what they are. Recently, they opened up Niemann’s Gardens of New Castle, a garden center based at their home. While they sell traditional fertilizers, seeds and much more, they also carry a full line of organic products. For them, said Scott, going organic isn’t a fad. It’s their life now.
“We’ve been processed so much,” he said, of modern-day food.
“Organics is about sustaining the earth,” added Birgie. “And community is about sustaining our value as people.”
For them, these ideas are completely intertwined. As they talked about their business, they sounded so vested and excited. Though Scott was born into gardening (when he was 2, his parents bought Glenwood Floral, which he would later run himself), he never thought he’d come back to the business. He’d lived a lot of life since his old gardening days.
You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but he’s an amputee. A diabetic since 1981, Scott lost his right leg below the knee almost a decade ago. In the last year, he’s lost all the toes on his remaining foot, as well. Scott is a widower. His first wife, Janice, died from the same disease in 1992. She had been blind from it for 15 years.
As he listed off these events, he sounded serious, but he wasn’t wallowing in the sadness. It’s easy to imagine that he could have lost hope somewhere in his past. But that’s just not how he went about things. Even as he mentioned his hard days, he was upbeat — downright funny at times.
“Like anybody else, I was kind of attached to my leg,” he joked.
He and Birgie then looked at each other and laughed.
She recalled that when he knew he was going to lose the limb, he had her send out an e-mail request to their friends. He wanted all the one-legged jokes he could find. Scott’s “self-pity parties,” have been very, very rare, she said.
And you can tell that’s part of why she loves him. When they met, she explained, she was recently divorced and didn’t really trust men. It was late 1992, and she was working as the editor of the alumnus magazine for York College in Nebraska. Though they hadn’t all known each other well, Birgie had actually gone to school with Scott and Janice. When Scott submitted Janice’s obituary to the publication, Birgie was so touched by her life that she wrote a story on her. Soon, Birgie and Scott, both single parents, got to talking regularly. After six weeks, Birgie came to visit Glenwood and this new man. Though she hadn’t been expecting it, she fell in love with both.
“Oh, this a God thing,” she remembered thinking.
They were married a year later.
A while before, Scott had sold Niemann’s Gardens. He ended up moving to Nebraska with his new wife. For the next 15 years, they worked at colleges in several states. In 2006, they knew they were too young to retire, but still, they wanted something new. So they took a sabbatical. They hopped in their car and just drove — for a year.
As Scott put it, “It was the best time.”
They traveled, on-and-off, across the country. They volunteered in New Orleans. They saw a 1,400-year-old redwood in California. They visited all the grandchildren, of course. And wherever there was a big, famous garden, Scott dragged Birgie to it. Though he said he had no thought of being a gardener again, Birgie could tell that’s where his heart was.
Eventually, the couple moved back to Glenwood, where Scott still had a house. He’d always wanted a few acres of land “to play in the dirt,” and they soon found nearly five in New Castle. They still had no plan, but they did have space, time and an abundance of outbuildings. Finally, their new “adventure” (as Scott put it) became clear. They had everything they needed to start a garden center.
Happening between all these other events was a slow — yet huge — shift for them. Most of his life, Scott had thought that “organic” was “hippy language,” he laughed. Yet when his daughter and her husband opened up Tierra Mar, an organic restaurant in the Hamptons, it didn’t take long for Scott to be sold on the food. As he described its flavor, he mused on the sweetness of the carrots, the eggs’ dark yolks.
“The taste was just phenomenal,” he said.
Most importantly, it made him healthier. After years of losing parts, of struggling to feel better, organics did the trick. With a combination of food and medicines, his chronic infections became much less frequent. He was more than appreciative. That’s why, with his business, he may have all kinds of products — but what he cares about most are the organic ones. He loves exposing gardeners to this new way to grow.
“Anything I can do to help people be successful at gardening, that’s a passion of mine,” he said. “We want to color people’s world with flowers. There’s such beauty in that.”
When asked about his disability, he was almost nonchalant. Though his gait is smooth, seemingly unaffected, he still has to be careful of his balance when he bends down. He can do pretty much anything, he insisted, even drive a tractor (with controls that Tim Burr of Berthod Motors specially designed for him). Still, he went on, his wife gets a “little nervous” when he climbs the ladders around their property.
The pair then gave a tour of their place. Scott showed off his aromatic mulch, his fingerling potatoes, the funny gardening hats for sale in his store. With all of this, he said, he wants to inspire people to garden. But, truly, he’s more of an inspiration than that. Though he didn’t use these words, his story is proof that people can change. Things are possible.
“I just like being happy,” he said, still smiling big.
And who doesn’t need to hear that?
Contact Stina Sieg: 384-9111
ssieg@postindependent.com
Post Independent Glenwood Springs CO Colorado
As Scott put it, “It was the best time.”
They traveled, on-and-off, across the country. They volunteered in New Orleans. They saw a 1,400-year-old redwood in California. They visited all the grandchildren, of course. And wherever there was a big, famous garden, Scott dragged Birgie to it. Though he said he had no thought of being a gardener again, Birgie could tell that’s where his heart was.
Eventually, the couple moved back to Glenwood, where Scott still had a house. He’d always wanted a few acres of land “to play in the dirt,” and they soon found nearly five in New Castle. They still had no plan, but they did have space, time and an abundance of outbuildings. Finally, their new “adventure” (as Scott put it) became clear. They had everything they needed to start a garden center.
Happening between all these other events was a slow — yet huge — shift for them. Most of his life, Scott had thought that “organic” was “hippy language,” he laughed. Yet when his daughter and her husband opened up Tierra Mar, an organic restaurant in the Hamptons, it didn’t take long for Scott to be sold on the food. As he described its flavor, he mused on the sweetness of the carrots, the eggs’ dark yolks.
“The taste was just phenomenal,” he said.
Most importantly, it made him healthier. After years of losing parts, of struggling to feel better, organics did the trick. With a combination of food and medicines, his chronic infections became much less frequent. He was more than appreciative. That’s why, with his business, he may have all kinds of products — but what he cares about most are the organic ones. He loves exposing gardeners to this new way to grow.
“Anything I can do to help people be successful at gardening, that’s a passion of mine,” he said. “We want to color people’s world with flowers. There’s such beauty in that.”
When asked about his disability, he was almost nonchalant. Though his gait is smooth, seemingly unaffected, he still has to be careful of his balance when he bends down. He can do pretty much anything, he insisted, even drive a tractor (with controls that Tim Burr of Berthod Motors specially designed for him). Still, he went on, his wife gets a “little nervous” when he climbs the ladders around their property.
The pair then gave a tour of their place. Scott showed off his aromatic mulch, his fingerling potatoes, the funny gardening hats for sale in his store. With all of this, he said, he wants to inspire people to garden. But, truly, he’s more of an inspiration than that. Though he didn’t use these words, his story is proof that people can change. Things are possible.
“I just like being happy,” he said, still smiling big.
And who doesn’t need to hear that?
Contact Stina Sieg: 384-9111
ssieg@postindependent.com
Post Independent Glenwood Springs CO Colorado
Scott and Birgie Niemann
Making their home in: New Castle
Their recent venture: The couple just opened up Niemann’s Gardens of New Castle, 6501 County Road 214. Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, the place features a wide range of gardening supplies, from traditional to organic. The garden center may be reached at 984-3850. Scott’s favorite garden: The Bouchard Gardens in Victoria, B.C. “They’re just gorgeous,” he said. “You’ve got to go.” |
