D-Day and The Tomato

Dad: Red Beach-Dieppe, France 1942

I had intended to write and publish this post on the date of the 80th Anniversary of the now legendary D-Day invasion on the coast of France, but I wasn't quite ready yet. It is the story of two men who greatly influenced my future exploits in the garden. It is part of the reason why I do what I do. When I work in the garden as I often do during these warm summer months, my thoughts are occupied by these two. These two family members did not take part in the D-Day invasion that took place on 6 June 1944. But they were both in this war. They were both either in, or a witness to, combat. They both played the crucial roles that they did.

Later, as a small boy growing up in 1960's California, I noticed the gardening efforts of both men for the first time. My first memory of a ripe tomato on a tomato plant comes from the garden that my father planted and nutured at the home of his second third wife, a lady named Clara. That garden, as I recall, contained corn, cucumbers and tomatoes. The round, red and ripe tomatoes from that misty childhood memory would become a treasured part of a backyard barbecue, as would the corn and cucumbers. It is one of those summer childhood experiences that I've never forgotten. That, and the memory of my brother and I attempting to impale each other with the sharpened metal tips of a well-tossed lawn dart from the infamous game: Slider Jarts.

By the way, that photo above right is a picture of my father. I don't know who took that photo. I just know it was taken at the moment he was captured. That moment came late in the day after a tremendous battle called The Dieppe Raid. This photo was taken shortly after the battle on one of the invasion beaches, known as Red Beach, came to an end. The date was 19 August 1942. It would be the end of dad's war against Adolph Hitler and the German forces that Hitler unleashed across Europe during World War II. D-Day would come and go while dad was locked up in a German Prisoner of War (POW) Camp in what is today a part of southern Poland (Stalag Luft VIII-B, Lamsdorf, Poland).

Francis Doran: Merchant Marines

The second gardening influence in my life would come from the man to my immediate left. His name is Francis Doran. He is (was) my uncle. Francis played the role of older brother to the sister who would later become my mother. His gardening exploits are rather legendary, because he chose to grow his gardens in the worst spot that any gardener could possibly choose: the bitter cold of a Bay Area location where no vegetable in its right mind will grow. Despite those bitter cold summers, Uncle Francis would manage to coax well-shielded tomato plants to grow and produce small pieces of treasured garden fruit. He would also employ the magic of a greenhouse in his backyard to produce champion cucumbers, an exploit that he both relished and celebrated in his later years.

No meal served at his Bay Area home would be complete without a trek down a steep hill in his backyard that led to that greenhouse. That is where the magic of his garden exploits really took place. I have many memories of his triumphant emergence from said greenhouse, fat cucumber in hand. Later, as I began to borrow from the skills taken from him and my father, he would show a tiny bit of jealousy at the garden cucumbers and tomatoes I would present to him each summer that I visited. He also knew, however, that those summer harvests were helped a great deal by the heat of a typical San Joaquin Valley summer season. He wanted no part of that heat and would take every opportunity to tell me so.

Uncle Francis probably would have taken part in the D-Day invasion that took place on the American beaches named Omaha and Utah, but there was one minor problem. He wanted no part of that, and for good reason. Francis managed to live into an old age because he managed to steer clear of the alcohol and cigarette habits that many WWII veterans adopted to cope with the horrors caused by wartime service. Because he did live for as long as he did, I grew to the age where he could speak to me about exactly what happened and what was going through his mind. Today, I treasure those conversations. It is a look into the mind of a young man who badly wanted to serve his country, but also knew he didn't want to become a wartime statistic.

Restored Liberty Ship

"I was not an athlete," Francis explained to me once. "I could not run fast. I would have been the slowest soldier in my platoon. I knew that some German sniper would have picked me out immediately as an easy target and 'POP,' that would have been the end of me."

It is a common belief today that the invasion of France by the Allies in WWII was a well kept secret. Nothing could be further from the truth. Millions of American boys and young men knew as early as 1942 that the Allies would be forced to invade France in order to drive the Nazis out and back into Germany. Francis, who was finishing his final year at the University of Oregon in the spring of 1942, knew this all too well. The moment he received his diploma on the day of his graduation, he also knew he would also receive his draft notice from the U.S. Army Recruiter who was stationed on campus.

So, the day before the big event could take place, Francis and his best friend from college, a young boy named Robert, took proactive action.

"We pulled a fast one on that recruiter," he explained to me, chuckling the entire time. "The day before graduation we went out and joined the Merchant Marines. When that recruiting officer discovered what we had done, boy he was mad! But there was nothing he could do."

Francis was under the belief that his service in the Merchant Marines would keep him safe from the dangers posed by a German sniper. Which it did. What he could not know, however, is it put him at risk from getting hit by a torpedo fired by an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine. It also exposed him to daily attacks mounted by Japanese pilots who flew repeated suicide missions against the U.S. Navy in 1944 and 1945.

Francis in WWII

In fact, the first taste of what he could expect came not long after his graduation. It took place during his service on the first of three of three Liberty Ships he would call home for the duration of the war: SS Henry L. Hoyt. A month after setting sail from San Francisco in July, 1943, my uncle found himself off the coast of a South Pacific island called Guadalcanal. Worse yet, my uncle was onboard an ammunition resupply ship that carried 10,000 tons of bombs and ammunition. His ship, like many other Liberty Ships built for wartime service was, in reality, a floating bomb.

At this point in the war against Japan in the South Pacific, the US Marines and the US Army had managed to drive Japanese forces off Guadalcanal. But that didn't stop the Japanese from retaliating with bombing raids launched from nearby Munda Point in New Georgia. Which is exactly what took place as my uncle worked feverishly to unload his floating bomb on a series of DUKW's. These were amphibious trucks that were used by the Army and Marines to ferry ammunition and equipment from liberty ships to ammunition dumps on islands that U.S. forces had won in battle. It's the same ammunition dump that Imperial Japanese Vals were targeting at the time of my uncle's arrival. He was uncomfortably close.

"All the while (during unloading) the Japanese were blowing up parts of the ammo dump in the hills," my uncle would write in a letter decades after the battle took place.

Unfortunately, for my uncle at least, it was a scene that would most likely be repeated during his service aboard another liberty ship called SS Hiram Bingham. He would spend the final seven months of the war in the South Pacific ferrying ammunition and supplies to islands liberated by either the Marines or the Army (or both) in 1944 and 1945. I am not sure where his service took him on the Bingham, but I do know that one of his last stops would be made in Danzig (Gdańsk), Poland. He arrived via the SS Murray M. Blum, his third and final liberty ship assignment. He arrived in port not long after the city had been liberated Russian forces and WWII had come to a merciful end.

Dad (Right) in England

My father did not speak much about his experiences during the war. But then again, I was far too young to hear or understand this kind of detail. By the time I finally reached the age to realize where he had been (Dieppe) and what he had done, I was filled with questions that my father could no longer answer. He had been gone for nearly two decades. I don't know if he would have been able to say much had he managed to live to an old age like my uncle did. There are men who saw or did things during the war that they could never talk about, not even decades after the fact. The secrets they held died with them.

I can only tell you what I think. My father was an OG (Original Gangster), provided there is such a thing. He would become the very first American boy, or among the first handful of American boys, to charge up a beach under fire in Nazi-occupied France in 1942. In fact, dad joined the Essex Scottish Regiment of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division long before America was forced into the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941.

His country of birth and citizenship, however, is a fact that did not escape the attention of the Gestapo after he had been captured following the failed Dieppe Raid. A postcard he would send from his POW camp would indicate that the Gestapo had interrogated him about it. One of those questions might have been why an American citizen would join the fight against Nazi Germany in 1940. It is a good question. I did not know the answer. I only just recently discovered an article printed by the Windsor Star newspaper (Ontario, Canada) in July, 1945 where my father claimed to have joined the Canadian Army because he "craved excitement."

Dieppe Carnage 1942

Both my father and uncle would survive this war. I don't know what either of them were doing on D-Day, but I do know that both considered it important and a solemn event. My father's lone request to his youngest son during Veteran's Day parades was that I at least stand for them, and not plop down in the street with a sugary snow cone. Then, of course, there were the vegetable garden growth efforts that both were clearly proud of.

The one person who did not survive was my uncle's best friend from the University of Oregon. I don't know Robert's last name. Nobody in the family does. I do know that my cousin Rob is named in honor of him. I only know that he was on a liberty ship like my uncle was, except, he did not survive. It may be one reason why my uncle had a hard time forgiving the country of Japan following the war. It's an animus I noted in the 1970's, especially after my mother had the unmitigated GALL to purchase a new car that carried the model name of Mazda. He wasn't happy about that. He would not allow her to park it in front of his vegetable garden either.

Dad passed in 1972 following a long illness. He is buried at Lakewood Cemetery Park in Hughson, CA. Francis plowed right through some early health issues that bothered him somewhat. He lived to see his children marry and produce grandchildren, which he was quite proud of. He passed at age 91 in 2010. His final resting spot is in the city where he grew up, a family plot located in Eugene, OR.

Ozempic Sucks, Plus Other Garden News

Vegetable Garden in Early May

This is a blog about vegetable gardening. It will always be about vegetable gardening. That is the main subject. The main idea. It is why I write these things down. However, I reserve my right to digress from time to time to take in other areas. Like this one: Ozempic is a horrible medication. I have lived with those daily injections for three weeks. I cannot begin to describe this horrible experience. It is one reason as to why I haven't updated this blog recently.

I am not about to describe the side effects from this medication. Many of them are listed online. You can read it for yourself. I've experienced all of them, plus others that are not described in detail as they probably should be. This has been one terrible trip. However, I have come to the decision that it is simply not worth it. No more Ozempic. Ever. I will let Diabetes win.

Rant Over. Back to the garden. I promise.

Vegetable Garden in June

This is the state of the 2024 summer vegetable garden. It is the "progress so far" report between plant out and the first month of garden growth. The picture above right represents the vegetable garden just after every last starter plant and seed was set into the prepared beds. That's 30-tomato plants, six hot pepper plants (including The Survivor), 15 sweet or bell pepper plants, three tiny basil plant starters plus one row of Sumter cucumber seed and a separate row of two different types of bush bean seed.

The three or four squash starters that I had kept around would go into another nearby bed that would not be prepped for another week or two. I'm still attempting to locate some additional starter plants for this bed, but I don't think tomatoes will be one of the choices. 30 tomato plants will be quite enough. Or, perhaps too much. It all depends upon your state of mind.

The second photo, located above left, is the state of the garden in June. This photo was taken in the same spot as the first photo was. It was just taken 30-days later, June 3rd to be exact. The tomato plants then, which are about twice this size now in mid June, all got off to a great start. There was one exception to this fantastic start. It was a plant that Bandit the Border Collie paid a wee bit too much attention too. It has since recovered from this Border Collie attention and is setting a terrific early crop.

Purslane With Peppers

No, I am not about to tell you the kind of attention that Bandit paid to this particular starter plant. It's not the kind of attention that would normally be considered to be helpful. Although, it just might have been based upon the number of blossoms that this plant in question is putting out this June. It appears to be quite happy!

The orange garden protector known as Mango the Magnificent is back on the job once again. It's hist job to deter the garden pests that come to visit late at night, hoping to filch a snack or two. Despite suffering some problems with his back legs over a long and cold winter, it hasn't deterred or affected his ability to patrol the garden rows at night, or quietly stand guard in spots around the yard that critters have used in the past to gain garden access.

One of the biggest problems so far has been weeds and weed control. The spring garden pest known as Purslane is once again putting on a terrific show in the garden. Yes, Purslane is reportedly edible. Reportedly. However, I am not the "forager" type of backyard gardener. With the exception of a volunteer grapevine that is poised to deliver a massive amount of grapes later this summer, I tend to stick with what I planted.

This means I avoid the Purslane. Yes, I understand Purslane is edible. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Horticulture Department goes a step further by proclaiming the following: It is considered quite nutritious because it is unusually high in omega-3 fatty acids (found mostly in fish and flax seeds) and contains significant amounts of vitamins A and C, as well as calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium and antioxidants.

Weeding Out the Purslane

However, I still did not plant this. I'm not quite ready to forage for something I didn't plant. Unless it's a wild green grape. Which, I must admit, is pretty darn good.

At some point, when my appetite for any type of food returns (another fine side effect that I am suffering from), I will actually get to enjoy the fruits that this garden will eventually produce. I hope that appetite does return. Because the day of extreme garden production isn't all that far off.

I have implemented a few changes in this year's garden. Most of the changes deal with water. All gardens need this vital resource. However, the changes I have implemented this year have either resulted in some mildly impressive growth and early fruit sets, OR, it's just "one of those years." I appear to be blessed. Time will tell.

King Cucumber

Seed Packet: Sumter

Since when are cucumbers worth writing home about? Simple answer: When you stumble over and discover a cucumber variety that is out of this world special. It's when you make a discovery like this, the process of kicking yourself commences. Kicking yourself as in: Why didn't I plant this years ago?

I will admit that I had the chance. This special variety of cucumber arrived a decade ago as a "toss away." It's one of those special rewards that gardeners receive from seed houses when an order for $20 worth of seed product is placed. In this case, the Sumter Cucumber seeds arrived as a "freebie" from an outfit called Seeds of Change. This is during a time in recent history when Seeds of Change was in business. Sadly, it isn't any longer.

The name still exists. It was purchased by another seed outfit after the Seeds of Change business folded. The name and brand is now held by an outfit called Green Garden Products located in Norton, Massachusetts. It's the same outfit that owns Ferry Morse Home Gardening, Livingston Seed, McKenzie Seed and others. It's also the same firm responsible for stocking some stores with 25-cent seed packets, a bargain buy that I honestly loved.

Sprouting Sumter Seeds

This packet of Sumter Cucumber seeds had done nothing but gather dust in a garage for ten years. When I discovered some extra room in last year's garden that would be perfect for seed planting efforts, my first thought was why not? I wasn't expecting much. Packets containing seeds that are ten years old can often be disappointing. Some seeds absolutely refuse to sprout after gathering dust for that long a time.

Imagine my surprise then when not only every seed sprouted, but these Sumter cucumber vines began to cover every square inch of space that I set aside for it. Then it began to grow into other areas. The vines managed to grow over and conquer nearby bush bean plants. They also grew right into and over large basil plants. The Sumter vines even latched onto six-foot tall tomato plants and grew right up and over them like nobody's business. The only thing that slowed the Sumter down was the onset of winter.

By this time I had discovered that the Sumter was actually a variety of pickling cucumber. Let me rephrase that statement: The Sumter was a very, very, very, very productive form of pickling cucumber. A free seed packet that contained 25-seeds left me with more cucumbers that I knew what to do with. So, I started to surprise my neighbors with bags of them. SURPRISE!

Late Season Cucumber Patch

The only thing that I failed to do was to find someone, ANYONE, in the local area that liked to create and can pickled cucumbers as a home canning project. By the time I really needed to discover a group like this, it was already too late. I won't make that mistake this year. If you are reading this and you want cucumbers in late July for a home-canning project, drop me a note. They're free. Pick all you want. Then, do me a favor and pick even more.

The Sumter also did double-duty as fresh cucumber slices and chunks in multiple summer salads. Every night, it seemed, featured large bowls of heirloom tomatoes, sliced Sumter cucumbers and loads of basil to give it that spicy kick. The Sumter was, in a word, outstanding. No hint of bitterness. Easy to peel. Easy to chop. Easy to prepare. I had no complaints. I still don't.

Sumter Cucumber Bounty

I simply could not let this variety get away from me. So, like any gardener who literally stumbles over something really good, I allowed a few of these cucumbers to get fat and yellow with seeds. At the end of the season I sliced each one open and saved seed through a simple fermentation process. The end result was enough saved seed for ten gardens. I'm still giving out seeds to anyone who wants them.

The saved seeds that I planted earlier this spring, meanwhile, are putting on the same type of show that the ten-year old packet of Sumter seeds did last year. They all sprouted. Some were planted earlier than others, but they are all doing well. Which means one big load of cucumbers later this summer.

Planting Party!

Garden Cat Mango on Patrol

The warm spring temperatures have finally arrived. The wet winter weather is finally behind us. The soil is now prepared is ready. It's time to plant the 2024 Summer Garden!

This is the start of a summer season that means overwhelming abundance in terms of bright and tasy heirloom tomatoes, the crisp crunch of heirloom variety cucumbers, green and yellow squash sliced lengthwise, drowned in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and browned on a flaming summer grill.

But that's just the start! Yes, there's more! The summer garden also means a wide variety of bush beans, multiple varieties of basil, gigantic sweet bell peppers, an eye-popping assortment of hot peppers like the time honored jalapeno and a vast number of home-canning projects such as tomato sauces, tomato soups, plus tomato and hot pepper salsas.

2024 Summer Garden (Partial)

That doesn't even count the bags of home grown garden goodies that will be be packed up and delivered to neighbors near and far. A summer vegetable garden can provide that and more. It doesn't feed the needs of just one household. It can provide summer sustenance for many. This includes a never-ending supply of sweet, multi-colored cherry tomatoes. Summer gardens are the bomb. Every last morsel that springs forth from that summer soil is 100-percent good for the body and soul.

That's why I love summer gardens. How about you?

Preparing a backyard soil that consists of sticky, heavy clay was the first step. That preparation, outlined in previous posts called The Method Part I and The Method Part II, has created the perfect area for planting efforts. BUT, the job isn't quite done yet. The job leaves you with a large patch of soil that is perfect for planting. But still need to take steps to ensure that every inch of that soil is put to good use.

First Garden Trail

All gardens need access. Cutting yourself off from one side of a productive tomato plant, for example, is no good. A good garden needs narrow trails and lots of them so that every section can be reached in multiple ways. However, the last thing you want to do is create trails out of that great soil that has been created with amendments, rototilling and other garden preparation efforts.

So, my method of madness works in the following way: I create my first of many rows for the garden by laying out a series of markers, In my case? I use pieces of PVC cage parts that I created years ago and continue to put to work in the garden. These cage parts make for perfectly straight garden rows, and also play a role as a planting guide. But the first step is to cut an access trail right next to that first row.

Cutting a six-inch deep access trail next to that first and second row that will hold dozens of tomato plants creates piles of nicely amended soil. Instead of 18-inches of loose soil, each row set aside for growing efforts will have two feet or more. I'm certainly not going to walk all over that nice garden soil that I've taken multiple steps to create. I'm going to move it to where it's needed.

Garden Layout in Progress

Is this extra work? Extra stress on the legs? A workout for a cranky back? You bet it is. But the payoffs are what I like to call "layer cakes" of amended garden soils that will eventually hold starter plants OR rows of seeds. The mounds of really good soil that I will create with my pathway creation efforts still need to be raked level.

The entire garden resembles high and low sections by the time I'm finished. There are narrow access rows and trails cut into every section of the garden. The planting areas receive several extra inches of great soil, and both the dog and cat have trails to run up and down as they scare away rats and other garden thieves throughout the summer months. There's no place for the garden thieves to hide out. They either stay out of the garden, or risk the consquences.

Once this work is done, it's time to start the planting process. I learned many years ago that using a post-hole digging tool that is normally employed for fence posts is the best tool for planting tomatoes. The PVC pieces that I put into place earlier during the trail creation phase also serve as planting guides. The holes for each tomato starter plant are dug in the center of each PVC frame. A month later I will need to remove that frame to actually build the cage that will support monster plants later that summer. But, that job can wait for a little while.

Digging Plant Holes

There was a day and age when I once utilized fish heads and other parts of fish that had been cleaned and thrown away to place at the bottom of those planting holes. But that practice ended a few years for me due to recycling efforts that made this once easily accessible and desired garden amendment very hard to come by. So, the only thing that goes into that two-foot deep hole that I've created with the post-hole digger is the rootball of the tomato plant that I will place there. Everything is then covered with heavily amended soil, and it's time to move to the next hole.

The same system works just as well with the garden pepper starter plants, but the holes for those are not cut nearly as deep. That process moves quite a bit faster because there's not as much soil to cut through. It can take a day or more to dig the 45-50 planting holes I will need for each starter plant, but it saves a lot of bending and stress on the knees.

Cherry Tomato Plant Row

After planting every transplant that the garden will hold, the next step is cutting long rows in the soil layer cake of amended soil for seeds. Long rows are set aside for an heirloom cucumber called Sumter. Additional rows are created for heirloom bush bean plants that carry the time honored names of Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder and Pencil Pod.

Bush beans grow well here. The Sumter Cucumber, which I discovered by complete accident a few years ago, also grows extremely well in this climate. What doesn't grow well in California? I've really yet to find any garden vegetable that does not flourish in this climate. I suppose it's the reason why I've stayed, while so many of my counterparts have run off to other areas of the country.

So you have it! I'm still working on other sections of the garden. There's always something to do. The garden effort really doesn't end. Because, by the time planting efforts end, it's nearly time to start enjoying the harvest. Then, the period of over-production starts. That's the signal to start providing to others, or multiple canning projects to save chunks of that summer garden for winter use.

As you might imagine, I enjoy this type of work very much.

The Method -- Part II

Garden Plants in Waiting

The Method that I employ to prepare a backyard of clay soil for extensive gardening efforts involves a number of steps. This method, which I developed over a number of years, is pulled from personal gardening experience and an understanding of what works in the garden and what doesn't. This method was also pulled from the experience of watching others and the style that they employed.

I also strongly believe that the method that commercial farmers use is a big recipe for success. Commercial tomato farmers concentrate on one crop and one crop only for the most part: the variety of tomato known as the "processing tomato." Today's processing tomatoes resemble pear-shaped tomato fruit, also known as "roma."

It wasn't always this way. In fact, many heirloom tomatoes grown today once did double duty as processing tomatoes from a different era. Campbell's 1327 comes to mind as an example. This was the variety that was once widely grown for Campbell's famous Tomato Condensed Soups. There are others.

Garden Area

Clearing the garden area of weeds with a lawn mower, weed eater and a normal shovel to dig out the pesky Mallow is the first step in the process. The second step is a "first chop" with the Mantis Rototiller. These steps, which I outlined in a previous blog posting, end with the result of four to six inches of loose soil. It's a good start. But I want more. The third step that I employ will wear a gardener out. It can take hours to achieve the end result. It's a step, however, that helps to achieve the results that I want.

Four to six inches of loose clay soil isn't enough. I want a deeper cut. The only way for me to accomplish this cut is to employ an old fashioned shovel and get to work. The shovel is used to dig up every square inch of garden area. This "cut" into the garden soil brings up big chunks of soft clay soil. Those chunks are turned over. By the time I'm done with this step, the garden soil looks like row after row of large, brown marshmallows. It also results in 12-16 inches of loose garden soil over the entire garden area. Every bit of it, from one side to the other, is lifted up and turned over.

Employing this method also tells me just how healthy my clay soil really is. Garden soil should be alive with living organisms. This includes worms, both large and small. Turning the soil over and breaking up clay chunks with the shovel also allows worms to escape and dig deeper into the soil that I have just dug them out of. Which is exactly what I want them to do. Those big earthworms and many smaller wrigglers are exactly what I want in my garden soil. I don't want to commit the crime of chopping them up with the Mantis.

Chunky Clay "Marshmallows"

I will not lie to you. This step is not easy on the body nor is it quick garden work. It normally takes me three to four hours of pushing, pulling and grunting to accomplish the task. If that shovel does not easily slide into the soil below, I use the power of my feet and legs until it gets to a depth I'm happy with. This is a routine that is employed every time that shovel is placed into the ground. The goal is the deepest cut I can get, without snapping the shovel into pieces when I turn that big, gray dirt clod over. The goal also is not snapping my back into tiny pieces either. I'm not always successful.

This is a gardening method that I learned from a friend who I put to work in my garden one year when my pesky back gave out. He grew up on a small farm in Merdead (Merced) County. I had never witnessed anyone do this before. I never forgot it either. It had never crossed my mind to do something like this. This step is not easy. I must stress this. I run into all sorts of tree roots, rocks and other obstructions with each shovel full of clay that I bring up and turn over. Yet, I do understand that it is work that must be done.

If the clay soil will not give into the efforts of me jumping up and down on a shovel, I will employ a little strategy. That garden area might need a little more water. Again, the goal is a soft, pliable clay that a shovel will slice into, not a mud pit. If 30-minutes with a garden sprinkler and a bit of a wait will accomplish this task, that is the solution that I will employ. Time isn't the issue here. Getting that soil just right is. If this process takes a day, or I have to let the soil sit overnight after watering it, I will. If I need to stop and clip away pesky roots that are the size of small tree branches OR dig out large rocks, I will do that too.

Brain Vibration Tool

Once the garden area resembles one row after another of large, brown marshmallows, it's once again time to fire up the Mantis. This is the fourth step. The Mantis is put to work chopping those big, brown clay chunks into much smaller chunks. The goal is a fine soil, but I normally do not accomplish this goal until the final step of The Method. Fortunately, the fourth step is usually a bit easier than the first chop with the rototiller.

The work still leaves me with a vibrating brain by the time the chopping work is done. Fortunately, it doesn't vibrate for nearly as long. Employing a garden rake to level out the chop and achieve a semi-level garden area also cuts down on the vibration. The fourth step in the process leaves me with anywhere from one to two feet of loose garden soil. I do my level best not to step on it. This is the step that also cuts down upon, but does not eliminate, pesky garden weeds.

The goal I had of one to two feet of loose garden soil has been achieved. But, the work isn't done yet. The next step, which is step five in The Method, is amending the soil. The amendment process is just as important. If I can accomplish this goal now, it means I won't need to fertilize the garden once all summer. It will have all the nutrient matter it needs to keep producing an assortment of vegetables all summer long.

Garden Amendment Gold

It means nightly salads of heirloom tomatoes, slices of mouthwatering cucumbers and fragrant, fresh basil and oregano. The end result also means an entire summer's worth of zucchini and crookneck squash, sliced lengthwise, brushed with olive oil, coated in salt and pepper and cooked on an outdoor grill. The end result is also processed tomato sauces and salsas, both flavored and heated by heaps of garden bell and hot peppers. One small garden can produce a winter of summer delights.

I employ two products in the amendment process: These include bags of steer manure compost and bags of pellet fertilzer from my local big box stores (Home Depot and Lowe's). Both are spread out over the soil as equally as possible before the Mantis is employed one final time.

Adding amendments to the soil however, can be a bit tricky. It is highly possible to add too much of a good thing. The amendments I add will bring three important nutrients to my garden area: Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. By adding just enough, and not one tablespoon more, you will be rewarded with an enormously productive garden. Adding too much will result in a garden that grows well, but doesn't produce nearly as much as the previous year's garden did.

Amending the Soil

I've come to learn that covering every section of the garden with at least one inch of steer manure compost does the trick. I attempted to double up on that amount one year. Bad idea. Although I always experiment in my garden, this is one experiment that went awry. The goal is to feed your garden plants. Not burn or shock them into non-production.

I do know that there are other gardeners who employ chicken manure in the garden. I'm not one of them. Never had much luck with it. Composted chicken manure is far hotter than its steer manure cousin. If you employ too much of it, which I've done, the result usually isn't something to write home about. So, I stick with the tried and true method.

After stomping on my amended garden soil to spread out anywhere from 25-30 bags of steer manure compost, I also spread out about a bag and a half of pellet fertilizer. I've used many different brands to accomplish this task. I'm not going to recommend one brand over another, but I've had the most luck with the Vigoro brand of Tomato and Vegetable food. I purchase the 3.5 lb. sacks. I spread out about a bag and a half. The remaining half bag will be used to fertilize fruit trees and bushes over the summer months.

The Goal

The final step? Step six is putting the Mantis back to work for a third and final time. The steer manure compost and pellet fertilizer is worked deeply into the soil. This final chop also takes care of the clay dirt clods that didn't quite get broken up with the second chop outlined earlier. The end result, after raking the garden area as level as I can, is a smooth and amended garden soil. The final product will be a pleasing color of rich, dark, and amended clay that crumbles when touched. It is a soil creation that is perfect for what I want because it will keep my garden plants in production all summer long. Which is the goal.

Does this mean I'm ready to start planting? HEAVENS NO! The planting process is also "involved." Not quite as involved as the gardening preparation that I've just outlined, but there is yet another "method" to this gardening madness. That outline will come next. I've got some planting to do!

Toodles!

The Method -- Part I

2023 Summer Garden

It is that time of the year again, isn't it? After watching a massive pile of weeds take over a once pristine gardening area, the time has come to clear it all out and make way for the new summer garden.

If you procrastinate with this work, as I do, the task at hand can be rather monumental I hate working in cold weather. I'd much rather stay inside, curled up with the heat brick known as Mango. The reliable rat hunter also seems to detest mud and cold as much as I do. This cat not only deters garden pests. He radiates enough heat to put a significant dent in winter heating bills.

At some point however, the gardening urge does begin to stir within me. The following missive is a method that I've developed over the past few years to prepare the backyard gardening area. I thought I would share this method of madness with you. Please do not misunderstand me, however. This is not the "right way" to prepare a gardening area. There is no "right way." Nor is there a "wrong way." It is "my way" and nothing more. Many people may find fault with this, or do things differently. That's fine by me. This is just my way of doing things and nothing more.

Rat Exterminator at Work

There was a time when I gardened extensively with raised beds that I built and maintained. Preparing raised beds for gardening use is MUCH easier. There was a point however, when I left those raised beds behind. If I was going to continue with this gardening adventure, all activity would take place the old fashioned way: in the clay dirt of a normal backyard. This forced me to develop a method that took a little more time to accomplish. But it also paid off with a unique gardening experience.

I can tell you that I have experienced a great deal of success with this method. You may experience the same type of success should you choose to emulate it. It is also a gardening or preparation method that greatly curtails the amount of weeds that pop up in the garden area. But, it does not eliminate them. The crab grass still makes its seasonal appearance. Several other "weed" varieties also seem to enjoy the garden prep and will announce their presence during the summer months. The only "weed elimination" strategy that seems to work for me is to dedicate a few minutes every morning of every day to find, locate and dig out the unwanted visitors.

Mantis Rototiller at Work

This weed elimination task isn't as difficult as it might sound. The weeds that do spring up are often quite easy to remove because they haven't had the time to develop tough and extensive root systems yet. This includes the dreaded crab grass.

I employ many tools during this method, but the biggest and best by far is the Mantis Rototiller. I consider the Mantis to be the best gardening investment I have ever made. This is the Mantis that is outfitted with the four cycle Honda engine. It is reliable. It is powerful. It starts immediately after a long and cold winter of zero activity. It cuts through heavy clay soil with ease. It also makes short work of pesky weeds with extensive root systems that have grown undisturbed through the winter months. I purchased this Mantis more than a decade ago, and it has yet to fail me.

Empty Garden Area with Weeds!

My method of garden preparation does not mean I put this tiller to work just once. It's not even used twice. It gets three or four turns in the garden area before the method of preparation is complete. I cannot imagine accomplishing this task without it, however. The Mantis doesn't replace all the hard work that must be done. But it does make it a tad easier. A turn with the Mantis will also leave your hands, arms and brains vibrating after an hour or two.

After I employ the trusty lawn mower and other garden tools to mow down a winter's worth of waste-high weeds, further weed elimination efforts take place in the garden area with the very handy and dandy weed whacker (also called a weed eater). I employ a normal shovel to dig out the tougher weeds like mallow, which also has a rather extensive and tough root system. There comes a point during this process where the garden area looks quite bare. Don't be fooled. The weeds are still there. They are just hidden by the dead material that the weed eater (whacker) and shovel efforts have already taken care of.

Mantis Tiller: Chop #1

That dead weed material isn't really dead though. In fact, it's just begging to be tilled right back into the garden area. I don't give into that weed wish. So, those chopped bits get raked out and cleaned up before I move forward. By the time I'm finished with this task, the ground is nearly bare dirt. It is at this point where I make a tough decision. Using any type of a garden tiller can be tough when the soil is dry following a dry spring. So, if it's needed, I put a sprinkler to work on that dirt patch for about 30-minutes. I let it sit overnight to let that water work its way in and help loosen the soil. This isn't always necessary. But water can play a key role in preparing the garden soil as long as it is used judiciously. Too much of anything can be a bad thing. Damp soil is the goal. Not a mud pit.

If the soil is right, it's time to put the Mantis tiller through it's first workout. This one is the toughest, on both machine and machine operator. I put it to work to till up a garden plot that hasn't been tilled for a year. That's a year's worth of soil compaction. Rows of last summer's tomato and pepper plants, cucumbers, herbs like basil, row vegetables plus walking paths tend to leave a lot of compacted debris behind. This is the big workout. The first chop usually takes the better part of an hour. The goal is a cut of at least six to eight inches in depth. This isn't all that difficult in a garden plot that has been tilled up the year before, but it still takes time and effort. This is the one workout that leaves you with vibrating hands, arms and brains.

The Dreaded Mallow

This first cut with the Mantis is the second step that I take to prepare my summer vegetable garden. Whether it's the toughest of all steps or not is a question that I will leave up to you. The six to eight inches of loose clay soil that contains plenty of compost thanks to previous gardening efforts is a good start. But, it's just that. A start. The job isn't finished. The big dig that takes place next will be outlined next in Part 2 of The Method.

The Survivor

The Survivor

This experience is not unique. Not by any stretch of the imagination. But it is a first for me. I've been planting and nurturing summer vegetable gardens in numerous backyards for a very long time. While I have heard stories like this before, I've never counted myself as one of the "lucky people" to receive this gift.

I can't tell you what I did. Whether it was "right" or "wrong," I do not know. It just happened. I chanced upon this "gift of gardening" while clearing out the very last portion of last summer's garden about a month ago. The section of the garden where pepper plants, both sweet bell peppers and hot varieties like the time-tested Jalapeño, are planted here. I always tear these out late because they keep producing right through fall and the first part of the coldest winter months.

Mother Nature usually delivers the "coup de grâce" or death blow to the entire garden at some point. It's usually after winter temperatures drop into a sustained freeze level. I live in a cold area of Northern California. The weather can deliver a whopper of a freeze every winter and often does. Several times. The tomato plants that I had not removed yet are normally finished off by a good freeze, and that includes the mighty pepper plants. Peppers love heat. They normally cannot stand cold winter temperatures, but some do perform better than others.

 

Imagine my surprise when I found this guy. It was located in last year's pepper bed, which contained about 25 different pepper plants. There was nothing special about this guy. It is your normal, ordinary Jalapeño pepper plant. It produced about the same number of spicy peppers that the two other Jalapeno plants did. However, unlike the other two, this one was not brown, barren, twig-like, or dead. For some strange reason it survived. No other garden plant did. Every single other plant in my expansive gardens kicked the bucket over the winter. Which is a normal development for most plants in a summer vegetable garden. But not this one.

 

New Growth Emerging

When I discovered it, in fact, it was in the process of sending out new growth through extensive vines that had intertwined with the branches of other peppers and the tomato cages I employ to support these plants in the garden area. Hidden by tall weeds and two dozen or so dead pepper plants, here was this one lone survivor. It was not planted anywhere near a heat source. It received no protection whatsoever. It just survived. For some reason, it decided not to give up the ghost. As for the two other Jalapeño varieties that were planted just inches away, they were long gone. They had become a collection of brown and crispy twigs.

 

Color me amazed. This is the first time I've encountered anything quite like this. But I did not let it stop me in that day's quest of tearing out the old garden to make way for the new one that will soon be planted. I nearly pulled this survivor out of the ground and tossed it into the large and expanding pile of dead pepper plants and various weeds. But I was struck by an epiphany. I've never encountered anything like this before. Why should I take action to kill a solid garden producer that obviously isn't quite done producing yet?

 

It would still be forced to survive a brutal haircut. Which it did receive. All of those long vines with new green growth were pruned away and tossed on the growing refuse pile. Those vines had grown into other plants that were dead. Plus, I had to remove the tomato cage support. So, if this mighty garden survivor was going to see another growing season, it would be forced to survive some fairly brutal treatment. It received a solid haircut, just like you see pictured above.

 

2023 Pepper Garden
Survivor is Front and Far Left

The "Survivor" refused to perish. Even in the face of the abuse that I just outlined. It lived through the brutal destruction and clearing of last year's pepper garden. It survived my onslaught of pulling and tearing out every last weed that had grown around it. It even took on the brutal haircut I delivered and laughed it off. Today, the survivor stands tall. The base of this plant looks like a small tree stump. It's gnarled and carries a none-too-pleasing brown color. Yet, green growth is springing forth from the survivor as I type this blog missive. It is the Jalapeño pepper plant that refuses to die.

 

I did make sure to show it a little bit of love this past weekend. As I chopped, mowed and chopped down even more spring weeds with a furious purpose, I dragged the garden hose over to the survivor. It received a slow drip of nourishing water, plus a sprinkling of garden fertilizer sprinkled at the base. It has reacted with a pleasing spurt of green growth over every section and branch that was not pruned away.

 

The Survivor may have survived the first onslaught of summer garden prep. But the abuse isn't over yet. It still may not make it. It will be required to survive the absolute injustice of whirling blades from the Mantis Rototiller that I put to work in the garden area every spring. I will make every effort to spare The Survivor from those churning blades that cut up the soil, but who knows how it will react.

 

Rat Exterminator on Patrol

I do consume my fair share of Jalapeño peppers from the garden. Sometimes I seed them. Sometimes I do not. They are chopped and placed into a collection of summer dishes such as soups, stews and even the occassional summer turkey burger. Even more find their way into the tomato salsas and sauces that I create from the abundance of a summer vegetable garden. Neighbors far and wide can expect a bounty of Jalapeño peppers. Provided they want them.

 

What kind of production can I expect from The Survivor? I'm not sure. I've never encountered this type of good luck charm before. But, provided it survives, I will keep my eye on its progress. Hopefully, it will provide a bounty of peppers. Just as it did last summer. Time will tell.