There's been a detente in the battle of the broccoli on Monroe Street.

In late June, the Fiore Company, which owns Knickerbocker Place, told Curves on Monroe owner Jamie Mueller that her tubs of vegetable plants outside her entrance had to go by the end of the month, saying the tall corn plants and squat squash vines didn't fit with the mall's image.

Mueller protested, and so did some of her customers. The landlord offered planters full of flowers, which Mueller rejected.

But in mid-July, she met with Stacy Nemeth, Fiore property manager, and the two worked out a compromise.

The vegetables are gone, except for the corn plants, which were moved to the terrace along Monroe Street.

In their place, the Fiore Company will buy two large planters for the front of the business, where Mueller can grow herbs.

In the spring, the company will let Mueller plant a 10-by-10-foot vegetable garden on the end of the property, away from Monroe Street, allowing Mueller to grow the vegetables she likes to promote to her health club members.

Mueller said she is thrilled with the idea of a real garden, surrounded by a picket fence.

"We're happy that she's happy,'' Nemeth said.

It's not world peace, but it's better than hurled peas.

— Susan Lampert Smith

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