USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts & Sciences

Dan, Miller, and I removed fennel from our trail today. We primarily used the shovel and the pulaski. I preferred the shovel. To use it properly, I dug the shovel at an angle near the fennel, then stomped a few times and jumped on the shovel to gain leverage. When the shovel was deep enough, I pushed down hard on the handle to dig up the root. Usually a pop could be heard. It was important to get deep enough to the taproot; otherwise the fennel would continue to grow back from the meristematic tissue, right above the root. It was always gratifying to completely get the fennel out and that took a lot of practice. If I didn’t get the root, I had to go back and dig for the rest of it.

For more pictures, check out today’s photo album: Day 18 Major Fennel Work