About 18 years ago, Leuthold—one of Minnesota’s best-known investment advisors—bought some land on the coast in Maine and started growing a few vegetables. He now grows around 200 pounds of potatoes a year, including rare varieties such as Russian Banana and Old Green Mountain.
“I’ve
learned that variety is great. That’s as true in life as it is with potatoes.
And you can’t grow potatoes in the same spot two years in row; you have to
rotate them. I’ve also learned that preparation is important, just as it is in
the stock market. You have to put compost piles in every spring and fall. When
the plants get to be 9 or 10 inches high, you hill up the dirt around them, and
they grow another 10 inches, and you hill them up again and get a lot more
potatoes. The discipline of watering and hilling regularly is what gets results.
I’ve grown squash, Brussels sprouts, cucumbers, green beans, broccoli, and
tomatoes. Last fall, I also planted 300 daffodils, so I’m diversifying. I do
most of the manual labor myself. It’s a hell of a lot better than jogging around
a track and trying to stop things from growing.”
