Dale Dehm harvests the last of the tomato crop at the United Methodist Church garden.

Starla Pointer / News-Register

Dale Dehm feels both the joy of gardening and the joy of helping others as he tills the soil on the United Methodist Church's Parkview property.

"This is a chance to get my hands in the dirt," said Dehm, who once made his living farming.

Last year, the 175-foot by 55-foot garden produced more than 5,000 pounds of vegetables, most of which went toward helping feed the hungry. And this year, Dehm said, the harvest should be a little larger.

"I try to garden intensively, to get the most out of it," he said. "Sometimes that's a detriment, because when everything's growing, it gets hard to get around. But we harvest a lot."

He drops off produce at the YCAP Food Bank every Monday during the growing season. On Sundays, he brings produce to the church and offers it to members in exchange for a goodwill offering.

Dehm, who works as a McMinnville postal carrier, has been serving as a volunteer gardener for the church for about six years.

He grew up in Nebraska, where his mother maintained an extensive garden. And in adulthood, he operated a dairy farm there.

He and his wife, Sue, moved to Oregon a few years ago to be closer to her family. He worked on a farm, then for a truss company, before joining the Postal Service.

He has found a valued niche in the church garden. "This was a way for me to get back to farming," he said.

Others members of the congregation help with hoeing and other tasks. One came out to pick beans each week this summer.

His Bible study group helped with picking, too. Members spent last Sunday culling most of the remaining vegetables.

He and Sam Graham made the tomato cages out of wood. In early November, the vines were still loaded with green tomatoes.

Dehm picked all of the partially ripe ones he could, leaving the rest. "I hate to se things go to waste," he said, "but I guess they will nourish the soil."

Later this month, Dehm plans to rototill the plot. That will prepare it for seeds and plants he orders over the winter.

This year was a good one for onions, beets and carrots, Dehm said. Sweet corn grew well, and tomatoes, which he's still picking, produced about as well as last year.

But Dehm was disappointed in his potato crop. He said he planted it too late.

Usually, he starts planting in February, putting in peas that start producing in May. Onions follow in March, then carrots, radishes, spinach and other cold-tolerant crops in April.

"I plant everything I can think of," he said.

That includes some crops that aren't traditionally associated with Oregon gardens.

"Two years ago, I planted peanuts," he said. "They grew well, but the birds dug up the nuts."

This year, he grew some sweet potatoes.

Whatever he plants, he said, "I grow a lot of different kinds." He ticked off seven varieties of onions, 13 varieties of hot peppers and many types of tomatoes, from cherry size on up.

He spreads newspaper, covered with leaves, where row crops will grow. Lumber wrap donated by a local store provides a weed-free surface for the squash and pumpkin vines. Around the tomatoes, he uses black underlayment.

The plants are watered with a drip irrigation system. Dehm built three large bins for compost, which he fills with leaves, horse manure and garden scraps.

"I try to do it all organic, although some of the grass clippings people bring me may not be organic," he said.

Most of the garden is fenced to keep out deer. This year, they stayed away until after most of the crops had been picked anyway.

When they showed up to nibble leaves from the bean plants, Dehm didn't mind. "I thought I'd reward them and let them eat," he said.