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INTRODUCTION

My name is Ralph Diamond. My wife Tina and I live in Spruce Valley Lake, Central California, and this is my story.

I woke up early on the morning of July 18, 2023 and rushed out to the garage to see the results of my experiment. As I looked at the four five-gallon buckets on the floor, I was ecstatic and let out a loud scream. My experiment had been a success. My wife Tina, who was brushing her teeth at the time, dropped her toothbrush, burst into the garage, and asked: “Ral, are you okay? I heard screaming!”

She looked as if she were foaming at the mouth from the toothpaste, so I jokingly said, “You look like you’re more excited than I am.” She gave me a puzzled look, then I pointed to the buckets, and she started screaming. We embraced each other for a long time, and we both had tears of joy in our eyes. This could truly change the world! I was testing a formula which when added to water will germinate seeds in a matter of minutes, and plants would grow to full maturity in a matter of hours.

The night before around 11 p.m., I filled each bucket halfway with water and added one drop of the formula I was testing. Next, I added just a squirt more of water from the garden hose to fully dilute the formula. I then added a few radish and carrot seeds to the first bucket, string beans in the second, corn in the third, and tomato seeds in the fourth one.

The first bucket now was nearly bursting with beautiful firm radishes and carrots, each much larger than normal. I tasted them, and they were more flavorful than any I have ever eaten. The string beans in the second bucket were also fully developed. They had risen out of the bucket and were sprawled about six feet across the garage floor. There were more beans on each plant than I had ever seen before. In bucket number three, there were four corns stalks about five feet tall, filled with more ears than I had ever seen on corn before. Bucket four had three tomato vines that had grown nearly halfway across the garage floor, with hundreds of blossoms on them.

I wanted to test the formula both indoors and out using various types of lighting and water. I contacted my friend Duke Holdman who was vacationing at a new seaside RV park near San Francisco. I asked if he would be kind enough to bring me back five gallons of sea water. He was just getting ready to return home and was glad to oblige. Over the next several days I tried every combination of water, lighting, and location I could think of. It didn’t seem to matter which type of lighting I used ― fluorescent, incandescent, LED, halogen, or sunlight ― the results were always the same. I tried everything from tap water to ocean water; again, there was no difference.

I grouped the various seeds I had purchased into categories and compiled a chart of how long each type of seed took to grow to a fully mature plant. I found that simple plants such as herbs grew very quickly in about two to four hours. Vegetables such as peas and beans required four to six hours. Larger plants like sweet corn grew to ten feet in height in twelve to fourteen hours, and tomato plants stretched an amazing thirty-two feet around the garage floor in sixteen to eighteen hours with hundreds of large luscious tomatoes on them. The only additional task was adding more water to the larger plants as they grew.

I had to sit down at the end of my experimenting and let the gravity of this breakthrough sink in. My God! I thought. This could mean the end of world hunger and possibly the beginning of world peace. I felt I finally had all the information I needed to go to the next step ― contacting the media.

We live about an hour outside Sacramento, so I called the Channel 19 news department, the largest in the area, and explained what I had in my possession. They took my name and phone number and told me they would call back. About two hours later I received a call from a man who introduced himself as Robert Ulson, the head of the Channel 19 news department. He seemed cautiously interested in what I had to say, but I could tell he was very skeptical. He thanked me for contacting them and said he would send someone to check it out.

A few hours later my gate bell rang, and I pressed the button to open it. An older model sub-compact pulled up in the driveway and a very attractive young lady exited. She extended her hand and said, “Hi, I’m Misty Lane. I’m an intern from Channel 19 news here to follow up on your phone call.”

“My name is Ralph Diamond,” I said. “Everyone calls me Ral.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ral,” she said.

When I looked at her I was kind of disappointed as I was expecting a reporter and a news van, not an intern.

I took her into the garage to show her why I contacted them. By now nearly the entire garage was filled with plants of all types; they covered almost the entire garage floor, with some climbing up the walls nearly to the ceiling.

“Wow,” she exclaimed. “When did you plant these?”

“Some about a week ago and others around twenty hours ago,” I replied.

She immediately began taking pictures with her phone and said, “I’ll need to document this from the very beginning.”

”I thought as much,” I said. “If you will help me throw this stuff away, we can get started.”

She was more than happy to oblige, as I told her she could take whatever she wanted. “I’m going to let you do the experiment yourself to assure you there isn’t anything deceitful going on.” After the garage was back to its normal condition, I told Misty to take four buckets and fill them halfway with water. She did, asking, “What’s next?” I handed her a small eyedropper of the formula and told her to add one drop to each bucket, and then add a squirt of water from the hose to mix in the formula. Next, I gave her a plastic storage box, which held about a hundred seed packets.

“Pick four of anything you like and put three seeds of each type in a separate bucket,” I directed.

“Okay,” she said. “What now?”

“Now we wait,” I replied.

I grabbed a couple of folding chairs from the house, brought them into the garage, and sat down. She took a few pictures and sat down beside me. I showed her the chart I had compiled, and she was flabbergasted. “You mean all these grow from seed to full maturity in just hours?”

“That’s right,” I said, “and it takes far less water than growing them in the ground.” We made small talk for about half an hour, and then I told her to check the buckets.

“OMG! (Oh, My God),” she shouted. “They are all germinating. . . . This is incredible!” She snapped more pictures and moved her chair right in front of the four buckets so she wouldn’t miss a thing.

A short time later, my wife Tina returned home from grocery shopping. After putting the groceries away, she came into the garage and joined us. I introduced her to Misty, and they struck up a conversation. As it turned out, they are both from Cleveland. They talked about where they each lived and all the places my wife had remembered visiting when she was a little girl. Misty filled her in on how things have changed since then. The two very much enjoyed talking to each other, and Misty, I think, was feeling a little homesick.

My wife excused herself and went into the house to get something for us to snack on along with some lemonade. As the hours passed, and in between taking more pictures of the plants’ progress, the conversation became a bit more personal. Misty, feeling quite comfortable with Tina, began sharing her childhood memories. . . . They were not good ones. Her mother and father were both drug addicts, and her father was sent to prison for killing a man over a drug deal gone bad when she was only five years old. Her mother was in and out of jail numerous times and was never really there for Misty. As a child, Misty suffered child abuse at the hands of her mother’s boyfriends and was raped on several occasions. At one point, when she was around twelve years old, her mother began pimping her out to earn money for drugs.

Misty said her only saving grace was Jane Flynn, a girl who lived next door to her in Cleveland. Jane was six years older than Misty and quickly became her mentor. Jane guided Misty through all the horrible times in her life and convinced her to stick it out until she could graduate high school. If not for Jane, Misty would have run away on several occasions. As graduation time drew near, Jane called Misty over to her house to talk. Jane had graduated college with a bachelor’s degree in business and had been looking for a job, preferably in California. She told Misty to sit down. Jane then informed Misty that she had sent out several résumés over the past few months and had received a job offer from Channel 19 news in Sacramento, California.

“I have accepted the offer,” she said, “and I will be leaving for California next week.”

Misty was crushed and began sobbing loudly. Jane was her only friend and confidant; how would she survive without her?

Jane said, “You only have three months until you graduate; you can do that standing on your head. Here’s what I have in mind,” she continued. Jane handed Misty a cell phone and said, “Call me whenever you want. We will stay in contact regularly, and when you graduate, I will send you a plane ticket to Sacramento, where you will move in with me.” This greatly lifted Misty’s spirits, and the two hugged and cried together.

The day soon came when Jane would be leaving; Misty went to her house to say goodbye. The two talked for a long time about the past, and Jane reiterated her promise to Misty. “Your new life is about to begin,” Jane said. “Hang in there a few more months; everything is going to be fine, I promise.” Jane’s taxi pulled up outside, and she left. Misty returned home and balled her eyes out. The next three months passed very slowly, and Misty marked off each day on the calendar in her room. She and Jane spoke frequently on the phone, and Jane would give Misty updates on her status. Jane had moved into a two-bedroom apartment just outside Sacramento. She said, “I have a room all prepared for you, and I think you are going to love it here; I am so anxious to see you again.”

True to her word, after graduation Jane sent Misty a plane ticket to Sacramento. Misty gathered up her things, wrote her mother a scathing letter containing everything she had wanted to tell her for years, laid it on the kitchen table, and left. Jane picked Misty up at the airport, and they went back to the apartment. It took a few days for Misty to get settled and familiarize herself with the area. She was happier than she had ever been before. She took night classes at the local college along with a few more online. She had always dreamed of becoming a news anchor, and with Jane working at a news station, there might be a real possibility of her dream coming true. After a few months of waiting tables at a few different restaurants, Misty got a big break. Jane told her the station was looking for an intern, and the job was hers if she wanted it.

“The pay is not much, but it’s a foot in the door toward your dream,” Jane said. Misty was thrilled and took the job.

“That’s how I got to where I am today,” she told us.

My wife and I were both very shocked, hearing of the horror Misty had gone through. She, on the other hand, had a big smile on her face. “That part of my life is over, and I’m not looking back,” she said.

“We are both very proud of you,” I said, which was strange because we had just met the girl. Several hours had passed by now, and the plants were well on their way to maturity. Misty excitedly called her boss and sent him the pictures she had taken. “It’s for real!” she exclaimed. “I can’t believe it!” I could only hear one side of the conversation, but I got the idea he was as excited as she was. He was asking her a lot of questions she couldn’t answer, and she said, “Hang on. I’m going to put you on speakerphone.”

“Hello, Mister Diamond. It’s Robert Ulson. . . . We spoke briefly this morning.”

“Please call me Ral,” I said.

“Wow, Ral! It seems you have something here that could change the course of history.”

“I hope so,” I replied.

“With your permission, here’s what I would like to do,” Misty’s boss continued. “I will send out a reporter and film crew tomorrow morning about 7:00 a.m. They will need to have constant access in order to document everything from start to finish. Is that okay?”

I responded, “The reporter is already here ― just send a film crew.“

“With all due respect, Ral, Misty is not a reporter; she is an intern,” came the reply.

“If you want the story . . . she’s the reporter,” I insisted.

Robert conceded, saying, “You heard the man, Misty. Get yourself a motel for the night, charge it to the station, and be back there to meet the film crew in the morning. This is your big break, kid. Make me proud.”

Misty hung up the phone, threw her arms around me, and said, “Thank you so very much. . . . You have no idea what this means to me.”

“You certainly deserve it,” I said.

“OMG! I have nothing to wear!” she exclaimed.

My wife said, “Come on, honey. Let’s go to the mall and get you something beautiful for your big debut.”

“But I don’t have any money,” Misty said.

“That’s okay kid. This one’s on us,” I said. “Besides, this will make a great story when you are world famous in a couple days.”

Just then the whole thing sunk in, and Misty had to sit down. “That’s right,” she said. “This will go worldwide within days. This is too much. I can’t believe it.”

After a few minutes, she regained her composure and started to leave with my wife. I said she could spend the night with us if she wanted to, and she replied, “Thank you so much, but I think I had better do exactly what my boss told me to do.”

I agreed. “Good thinking, Misty.”

While the girls were shopping, I ordered us all some pizza and made reservations for Misty at the nearby motel. The next morning she arrived about a half hour before the film crew. She looked fantastic! She helped me hang some sheets on the walls of the garage so no one would recognize our house. After the crew got set up, she started to interview me. I had told her beforehand that I wanted to remain anonymous for now. She asked all the questions you would expect, and then she ended by asking me what I wanted to do with the “Food Formula,” as it had quickly became known. I said I was hoping to hear from some large chemical company that might be able to put this on the market as soon as possible. My hope was to get this to all the starving people around the world. That part of the interview ended, and we started with the actual planting, which took only a few minutes.

Misty and the crew, Don and Skip, knew they were in on what could be the greatest story in modern history, and the excitement was palpable. As the plants continued to grow, Skip and Don ― the cameraman and the sound engineer ― began telling us stories of events they had covered in the past. They were both seasoned professionals in the news game, and the stories they told were both heartbreaking and amusing. They finished up around 3:00 a.m. and headed back to the studio. My wife and I had very much enjoyed their company and couldn’t believe it was so late.

About 9:00 a.m. we were awakened by a phone call from Robert Ulson, who said the story was ready to air and wanted to touch base with me first. They had shot my in profile in the dark to hide my identity as requested, and they also disguised my voice. He said it would be the lead story on the News at Noon. My wife and I anxiously waited as the time drew near: Misty came across as a real professional. We were getting very attached to her as all our kids were in their forties and fifties and had long since moved away. She was like a recently discovered relative, and we were very proud of her.

The story was on nearly every station and channel within minutes. It had gone worldwide by early evening. The next morning I received another call from Ulson who said, “The station manager wants to talk to you. Her name is Alex Thorne. Thank you again for letting us break the story.”

And with that he put me through to Alex, who said: “Hello, Mister Diamond. This is Alex. Our phones here have practically been smoking. We have received 129 calls from chemical companies around the world wanting to manufacture your formula. To show our appreciation for letting us break the story, I would like to offer you the services of our legal department. With your permission, we will act as a liaison between yourself and them. We can weed through all the legal stuff and narrow the field down to just a few for you to choose from.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind,” I said. “I’ll call you in a few days, and bring you up to speed on where we are.” Then she hung up.

Three days later Alex called as promised, informing me, “We have been working on this around the clock since I last spoke with you. We have received all sorts of offers, but one stands out over all the rest. The Able Chemical Company, the largest in the U.S., has offered to patent the formula in your name. They have worldwide distribution capabilities, and they are offering you a two hundred fifty thousand dollar signing bonus. That money is yours no matter what happens with the formula. You also will get a fifteen percent royalty on every drop sold. . . . That is a fantastic offer,” she asserted.

“Sounds great to me. What do we do next?” I asked.

“I will have the contracts drawn up, and we will submit them to Able and yourself; if all approve, we’ll have a signing party and celebrate.”

A few days later, my wife and I went to the station to seal the deal. After the signing, no one was sure exactly how long it would be before the formula hit the market. It had to be patented, extensively tested, and the FDA would probably have to approve it.

As this process continued, Misty was doing updates nearly on a daily basis due to the extreme interest in the story. I give her a lot of credit; she had stories such as how this formula would produce as much food in a one-acre warehouse per month as a hundred-acre farm would produce in a full growing season. It would also be able to produce year-round and use one thousand times less water. She did all the research herself and was turning into quite a reporter.

Able Chemical had purchased a large manufacturing plant and began renovations. They wanted to be as prepared as possible when final approval comes. The process dragged on for months, despite the “rush” status given it by everyone including the President of the United States Clayton James. Four and a half months later I received a call from Alex Thorne.

“Carol Avery, the executive producer of Hard Facts, called me this morning,” she said. “She would like you to call her as soon as possible.”

Hard Facts is the most popular TV magazine show in the world. “Do you know what she wants?” I asked.

“No,” came the reply, “but I think you should call her.”

“Thank you. I certainly will.”

When I reached Carol, she informed me that the Food Formula had finally been approved. Able Chemical is expected to begin production in about two weeks, and it should hit the world market within a month.

“Fantastic!” I shouted. “This is wonderful.”

“Hard Facts would like to do a one-hour special on you and the formula,” said Carol. “We have been researching the story from its beginning and have about forty-five minutes of air already taped. Of course we want the story to include the man behind it all. We are offering you one million dollars for your exclusive interview, but you will have to reveal your identity. Do we have a deal?” she asked.

“The story you want to do is only a tiny part of a much larger one,” I said.

“You’re kidding; what is that?” she asked.

“I’m afraid that is something I can’t discuss over the phone.”

“Please give me your address and phone number, Ral. I’ll be on the next flight out of JFK and call you when I get to California.”

Carol called around 3:00 p.m. the next day and said, “Hi, Ral. I’m here and at the same motel where Misty stayed. Would you and your wife please come join me for a drink? As you know there is a great watering hole right next door.”

We met her around 3:30 p.m., and after getting to know each other for a while, she asked where we lived and if she could come over the next morning at about 8:00 a.m.

“That would be fine,” I said.