Rich and Arlene Ekas walk slowly down the long border of their Jefferson Township backyard garden. One side is filled with beautiful blooming daylilies and other perennials. Goldfinches land on red double poppies and little white butterflies struggle in the wind as they flit from flower to flower.

As the couple stroll in the bright sunshine to the other side, the bed transitions to vegetables, separated by a huge patch of dill blooming in a cloud of pastel yellow. The tomatoes have already outgrown their cages and one-third of the vegetable area is covered in bush beans.

What really makes this garden unique is what's between the beans and the tomatoes -- peppers staked with golf clubs. Yes, golf clubs. The club faces are in rows, holding the peppers erect.

Mr. Ekas, who works at Saxon Golf Course in Sarver, finds that golfers can be forgetful when it comes to their clubs.

"They leave them around the greens, turn them into the clubhouse. Sometimes people don't come back and reclaim their clubs," he said.

For the past eight years, he has used the forgotten clubs in his garden. After cutting off the grips, he pushes the shaft into the dirt.

He's actually the maintenance man for this garden. His wife, the real gardener, wasn't pleased when she first saw the odd stakes, but quickly warmed to the idea.

"I didn't think too much of it at first, but they are conversation pieces," she said. "They do look nifty out here."

Mrs. Ekas learned to garden from her father and began digging here in 1980.

Her mother taught her how to can and she puts up many common things like salsa and tomato sauce. But it's all that dill that makes her dilled beans and asparagus special. She gives lots away to friends and family. (See Page D-2 for her dilled bean recipe. Visit post-gazette.com/homes for others. )

When asked what the best part of gardening is, Mrs. Ekas said, "I think sharing it with people who don't have the space or don't have the time."

Her husband noted that the stakes he makes for her never rot and can be stored in the garage over the winter. As the pepper plants grow, he rotates the club faces to help support the fruit. He likes to sit on the back porch looking out at the garden and periodically changes the arrangement of clubs.

If you want to follow his lead, Mr. Ekas recommends checking with friends who golf; they often have old clubs they don't use anymore. Yard sales are another great source.

Looking over his unique recycling idea, I had just one more question: What can you use the grips for?

"I don't have any idea. I throw them away," he said.