In Beth Jack’s Snippets column on the facing page, she describes herself as a “Garden Eccentric” and then describes her hands-off approach to gardening.

Though the guy in the photo at far right on page 5A could also be described — though he might not appreciate the irony — as a “Garden Eccentric,” he’s definitely no hands-off gardener.

He’s Wallace Cochran. He turned 89 Monday. His yard on James Street is always abloom and abearing. On Tuesday I got a tour.

Growing their way towards bearing big, yellow blossums along his drive are angel trumpets or wedding bell plants. In a few weeks they’ll be full of blooms hanging down toward the ground fitting either description of its name.

Walking around to the backyard, we found the promise of much okra in plants that have undoubtedly thrived in this week’s hot weather.

“They’ll wilt during the daytime,” Cochran said. “Like cotton.”

“I was raised on the farm, so we grew just about everything,” he said.

We walked past dozens of tomato plants. He points to those that D. R. Roberts gave him, then to others Harry Bryan gave them. During the walk he recalls gardening advice the late Joe Hartley gave him. It is as  though he is walking among old friends when he walks between the wide rows.

Cochran’s tomatoes grow from raised beds. Nearby is the extensive compost pile where he creates the ideal medium with which to raise them. Squash grows in a big, round bed. Cucumbers are big, abundant and shy, hiding under leaves the same shade of green as the fruit.

I leave with a bag full of cucumbers and squash.

Did I mention that Cochran is an Eccentric Gardener? Not unusual, but eccentric like so many other gardeners we all know.

All those plants bearing cucumbers, squash, okra, tomatoes and who knows what all else will bear far more than Cochran and his kith and kin can consume. He’s likely to work just as hard this summer driving around taking his produce to people he knows and giving it away.

We’re lucky to live in a land of Eccentric Gardeners.