By Richard Shank
Shank’s Scoop
With the month of May fast approaching, it’s the time of year to think of planting a garden. At the Shank farm near New Cambria in Saline County, the plot has been tilled and is awaiting the seed.
Growing up on this farm, my dad could have qualified as a master gardener, and there is no doubt he was born with a green thumb, a trait that did not follow the family lineage to his youngest son. Still, it’s fun to watch a single seed mature into something edible and tasty, and if Mother Nature cooperates one can, on most years, harvest a good crop.
During my formative years, there were many summer meals that featured items grown on the farm, including steak, potatoes, tomatoes, and cucumbers. And, don’t forget dessert, being watermelons and cantaloupes.
I learned early in life that raccoons like watermelons as much as humans. And these pesky animals have an innate sense, which tells them when the watermelons are ripe. Born with sharp teeth, the raccoon can cut a watermelon in half as quickly as a human can with a knife.
To solve the raccoon problem, my dad attached tin pans to steel posts he had hammered into the ground. As the winds blew, a given on any day, the pans clanged together and scared off the raccoons. Yes, it seems that generation of farmers could solve almost any problem with a little ingenuity and virtually no expense.
A few years ago, I contracted Jerry Kohman, the farm’s official handyman, to construct a 5-foot-tall fence around the watermelon patch, high enough to prevent raccoons from jumping in and out of the patch.
Dick Gisel, a former coach and State Fair champion watermelon grower of multiple years, told me his dad once told him the best time to plant melons is May 10. I have, for years, found his advice spot-on.
Dad always planted potatoes March 17, St. Patrick’s Day. This year, I missed the date, and the plants have yet to come above the surface, in part due to the drought we are enduring.
A half dozen cucumber hills and the same number of pumpkins will finish out the garden for this year. If all goes as hoped for, we will harvest a crop of each on or before Aug. 1. Watering the garden plants helps, but there is nothing quite like a 2-inch, slow and steady rain.
When the watermelons looked ripe, Dad would walk among them and thump each to determine which one sounded right, meaning it was ripe and ready for picking. I never understood the instincts of that generation, but found they were more accurate than not.
A yard fence surrounds the home, which may have been installed approximately 90 years ago. To the best of my knowledge, the two gates are original and look like they are ready for another nine decades of usage. Soon, we will replant the lawn with buffalo grass, a hearty variety that is drought-resistant, something the farm needs more than ever at this moment.
Readers often inquire as to what dining options are available in New Cambria, and the answer is none, but up the road in Solomon there is a sports bar named Nosey Rosey’s Bar and Grilla, a play on the word gorilla—Solomon High School’s mascot. Still, I am puzzled how the owner came up with the business name, but won’t inquire.
Ten miles to the northwest of the farm is Bennington, an Ottawa County town of 650 residents. On the west side of the single-block downtown area is a grocery store/restaurant combination called Westside Ventures, which serves a fantastic deli sandwich and provides the opportunity to dine with area farmers at noon. I, for one, have learned a lot in conversations with these sodbusters.
And, if those two options still leave us hungry, there is always the Cozy Inn in Salina. One can order six sliders, chips, and a drink for $12.23 and sit on one of the six original stools that served customers on the restaurant’s first day in business in 1923. For a little more nostalgia, the grill that served customers 103 years ago remains to this day.
Rural life is a part of Americana, and visits to one’s roots remain an enjoyable experience.
My grandmother once said that anyone involved in farming is never caught up, and that adage still applies to the Shank farm in these modern times.
Richard Shank is a retired AT&T manager and external representative for Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. He can be reached at shankr@prodigy.net or by calling 620-664-1517.