The Garden
July is almost upon us, bringing fond memories of summers past - and looking forward to Carolyn's revised and expanded
version of her book, "OFF THE ROAD, My Twenty Years With Cassady, Kerouac and Ginsberg".
It is published by BLACK SPRINGS PRESS, LED.
134-145 Curtain Road, London, SC24 3AR U.K. or ask your local bookseller to carry it for you.
In the early 1970's, Jami and Randy moved back in to the Bancroft Avenue house in Los Gatos and lived with Carolyn until she moved to England. Jack Kerouac mentions the house often in his books. In "Desolation Angels" there is a chapter where Jack comes to visit and, as was his custom at the time, slept out in the backyard under a tree.
We had always planted small gardens, mainly for the tomatoes and herbs, but here was a huge plot of land, at least a quarter acre. Jami and Randy and Carolyn all talked about it and decided to create a huge garden so we wouldn't' have to buy vegetables, herbs or flowers for the whole summer.
While cruising a local bookstore in Los Gatos, Walden Pond, Randy came upon a book on French Intensive, companion planting. Along with our brand new organic philosophy, we all thought this was the way to go.
At this time in her life, Carolyn was very much into astrology, having learned from the master in San Francisco, Gavin Arthur, so she decided that we would design the garden in an astrological design, circular and divided into 12 pie shapes, each one representing a different astrological sign. We would attempt to plant the garden with plants in the appropriate sign, under the appropriate rising stars and moon.
In French Intensive, the garden is done in raised beds, and the plants are planted half the distance from each other (as recommended). This requires that the beds be at least 12 inches deep. You don't plant in rows, you plant in diamond shapes. And next to each plant, you grow something that gets along well with the other plants in close proximity. This not only keeps the weeds down but also the bugs that eat the plants, attracts the good insects that help the plants and gives you twice the crop with less work.
Little did we know…
First, it turned out that the entire yard had only a few inches of top soil and under that, hard clay! Since Randy was digging this by hand with a shovel (with help from Cathy's son, Bill), he soon learned this wasn't going to be easy. Digging down 12 inches in a pie shape that was six to eight feet wide at one end was, he soon learned, not really a good idea. At that time Carolyn had a good friend, we'll call Archie, who suggested that we pour sulfuric acid on the soil to make it what he called, friable. Archie assured us that this was very natural and wouldn't hurt the growth of the plants. He knew where to buy it in five gallon quantities and would show us how to apply it. So we went for it, and he was right. We put it in large plastic sprinkling cans and spread it around the area. Sure enough, it worked!
Now, what to plant? As you can see by the chart drawn by Carolyn and the photos, we planted everything. Potatoes, soybeans, corn, squash, geraniums, artichokes, petunias, cow peas, Romano beans, eggplant, celery, leeks, red peppers, green onions, garlic, basil, bush beans, peas, radishes, spinach, chard, pole beans, snap peas, bell peppers, red onions, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, rosemary, sage, thyme, horseradish, melons, marigolds, strawberries, rhubarb, even peanuts and kohlrabi...what do you do with that? Carolyn knew. A spectacular crop!
Born in Michigan and raised on a farm in Tennessee, father a bio-chemist, avid reader of Edgar Cayce, she was cooking naturally and seasonally before it was hip.
Carolyn only ate whole wheat bread that she made herself Jami says the first time she tried "Wonder Bread" was when she left home and went to study ballet in New York.
Carolyn always cooked her vegetables "al dente". The food at the Cassady household was exceedingly good, fresh and simple.
The Neal Cassady Estate is currently working on a cookbook/lifestyle of the Cassady's in the 50's and 60's. The recipes will also include what was happening at the time and stories from friends and family.
And at last - a reward well earned!!