Gardener's green thumb grows bounty in Howell

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

JEFF GRANIT staff A squash grown by Hafez Ahmed, of Howell, grew to more than 3 feet in length. Ahmed tends to a garden in the Green Acres mobile home park and grows vegetables native to his homeland of Bangladesh. HOWELL - Two tiny seeds brought to the United States from Bangladesh have developed into what some people are calling - in a lighthearted way - a jungle.

Residents of the Green Acres mobile home park walk by the flourishing vegetable garden planted by resident Hafez Ahmed, and marvel at what their eyes witness, according to Gloria Schaad, Ahmed's girlfriend.

Squash that are three-and-a-half-feet long and weigh 10 pounds are draping themselves under giant green foliage. Foot-long string beans can be found in this garden that graces the property on Essex Lane just off West Farms Road, where the couple live.

All this is nothing out of the ordinary for Ahmed, who helped his father on the family farm in Bangladesh until moving to the United States 17 years ago. In fact, he said the vegetables that are grown on his farm in Bangladesh are traditionally even bigger than the fresh goodies he now grows in Howell.

So what essentially appears to be magic vegetables to Schaad and anyone else who sees them is actually the norm for Ahmed.

According to Schaad, Ahmed has a green thumb and provides what others cannot for his plants.

"It's all him," she said. "He makes the magic."

Ahmed refutes this shyly, but Schaad insists it is not merely the two seeds brought to Howell, but Ahmed's loving care, along with water and some fertilizer, that seem to have allowed the seeds to multiply much like the proverbial loaves and fishes and people cannot help but stop and look at them.

The two seeds turned into a bumper crop of squash that are large enough to wrap around your body and feed a ton of guests when they are cooked up, which Ahmed seems to love to do.

Ahmed is a cook by trade and works at the Empire Diner, Freehold Township, with Schaad, who is a waitress at the restaurant.

Garlic and oil are the staples he uses to steam, saut and simmer the gorgeous greens.

"Everything he grows is so delicious," Schaad said.

Other vegetables grow like wildfire in this garden, including a green that is native to Bangladesh and resembles spinach, according to Schaad, but with a more delicate flavor, and another Bangladesh vegetable green which resembles an elephant's ear. The large green flower of that plant is big enough to use as a fan on a hot summer day.

These veggies were also grown with less than a handful of tiny sees from the vegetable garden in Bangladesh, which were dried by Ahmed's mother before he left to come back to the United States, the country he now calls home since he became a citizen in 2000.

When asked what the couple intend to do with the large crop of fresh veggies, Schaad replied, "Give them away to his friends."

Ahmed has many friends here so the baker at the Ridgeway Diner, Old Bridge, will get a basket of yummy veggies from his homeland, as will the cook at the Park Place Diner, Matawan. The same goes for friends in South Amboy and Philadelphia.

There is also a section of vegetables grown with American seeds. Tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers and peppers are also a part of the garden.

Interestingly enough, Schaad said a woodchuck has been a regular visitor to the lush garden. Not surprising, however, according to Schaad, is that the woodchuck is particular about what he spends his time munching on.

"It's funny. He only seems to want the Bangladesh vegetables. He loves the squash and completely ignores the tomatoes and everything else grown from American seeds," she said.

It would appear that even small creatures enjoy the different taste of imported foods now and again.