Sure, Charlie Peterson, proprietor of Peterson's Nursery Garden Center on Route 206 North in Lawrenceville, has been a pioneer in his field, maintained a thriving local business for more than 40 years, and has come face to face with personal adversity, but through it all, there was always an underlying rhythm.
A former drummer, Mr. Peterson, 73, puts music right at the top of his list as something he'd like to explore come retirement. That is, if Mr. Peterson, a fervent worker whose lifetime body of work has earned him national accolades, ever retires.
Last month, the local musician-turned-horticulturalist received the Distinguished Service Award form the New Jersey Nursery & Landscape Association for his advancements in agricultural research and establishing a groundbreaking method of using liquid seaweed through his irrigation systems, as well as using granular seaweed in potting mix. He was also applauded for using natural insect predators at a time when pesticides were far and away the prominent method of extermination in mainstream gardening.
But on this rainy Monday, it's all about the music. His house, which lies right next to his business, is filled with pre-pop country music: Conway Twitty is the order of the day at the Peterson home. "I had to hang up my drumsticks," he said with a grin. "It hurt to do it, but I was always working day and night here, so I never really got back into music — but I'd like to."
And it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Mr. Peterson, by his own admission, is living on "borrowed time." While a bout of fourth-stage lung cancer diagnosed over two years ago, has gone into remission, in October 2005, doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his brain. "I wanted to know about how much time I had left, and they said, at the time, approximately three months — this is a year ago October, so I've been very fortunate."
Indeed, to maintain his type of business amid the age of big box stores, Mr. Peterson and his family have maintained a level of quality high enough, combined with a strong customer base, to sustain even the harshest industry challenges. A religious man, Mr. Peterson said he believes things happen for a reason, and his advancement in the industry is no exception.
In the 1960s, as his interest in carrying on his family's garden store business grew, he first stuck to standard methods of fending off pests: spraying pesticides. But "suddenly, I became very allergic to pesticides and I didn't really know what I was going to do, but I did know that I couldn't spray anymore."
That was when the research began. "I started pounding the books and I knew there had to be a way to do it, because you know they didn't have those chemicals 200 years ago," he said. He discovered a method of using beneficial insects, because "there's always a predator for everything."
The technique could be used for whitefly and aphids, but the predators to counter them were not readily available, which left the horticulturalist looking north, toward Canada, to acquire Encarsia Formosa, a parasitoid of whiteflies. "But they didn't really want to sell them to me because they used them for their own government," he said. However, the Canadian government eventually submitted to Mr. Peterson's requests. It was only a matter of time before the New Jersey Department of Agriculture was asking Mr. Peterson if he could acquire the parasite for the state. "I couldn't do it because I couldn't even get enough for myself."
The whiteflies endeavor led to involvement with numerous kinds of insects. Mr. Peterson puts out 75,000 ladybugs per month, staving off aphids and other soft-bodied insects. "I would saturate my building with them," he said. "My nursery was clean because of it."
His advancements led to a minor fame. Mr. Peterson wrote a gardening column for the Times of Trenton for 20 years, did a radio program for six years. The next project he is mulling over is a book, which, he said, will help gardeners emulate his techniques. "There is another way to grow plants without chemical pesticides. I've proven it."
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Knowing his recent medical history, Mr. Peterson's ambition is more than notable. Besides, he said, there is still much more to be done. A possible future project could be a book based on the research in his field.
Since being diagnosed with cancer, Mr. Peterson has turned his business over to his son, Charlie III, 24, and daughter Liz, 49. "I've been blessed, but my work is not over," he said, adding that his diagnosis is something to build off of. "It's really been an experience, because I have a pretty serious case of cancer, so I live day to day.
"And, of course, I love this business." And, of course, the beat goes on.