But his body of work speaks for itself. As does his passion.

We had the privilege of a visit from the famed grounds-keeper this past February when he came to town for the Pro Bowl. Bob Itoman, our own turf guru, set up the meeting, along with Itoman's "right-hand grass man," Walter "Wally" Komatsubara.

It is Toma who determines whether the field is playable and safe for the events in Giants Stadium. He makes sure all line markings and other myriad details are in perfect and safe working order.

It is his attention to detail that has led to his groundskeeping fame. He's even written a book (along with Alan Goforth), the "Nitty Gritty Dirt Man," (Sports Publishing LLC, $22.95), released in March.

When we met Toma, you could tell just by shaking his hand that he is a man who is not scared of a little hard work or topsoil.

Originally from Pennsylvania, Toma is the son of a coal miner. His father died when he was 10 years old, and Toma immediately took a job at a chicken farm to help support his family. On weekends, the farmer would let him take home chickens and vegetables for his family to eat.

He earned 10 cents an hour, working 10 hours a day.

He learned early that hard work paid. Soon, he was making 50 cents an hour and getting free lunches daily.

When he was 12, his neighbor, a groundskeeper at the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., ballpark, hired him to help out. At 16 and already a senior in high school, Toma caught another break when Amil Bossarf the ("greatest groundskeeper who ever lived," Toma says) took him under his 'green wings' and nurtured his career in turfgrass and sports field maintenance.

Bossarf would send Toma to every spring training, starting in 1948. Toma soaked it all up, learning plenty along the way.

In 1957, he took a job in Kansas City, Mo. The playing surface was in terrible shape. The field always seemed to be flooded, or it was far too hot to grow decent grass.

"I can't mess it up much," Toma thought to himself, "it's so bad already." With that, he started his first major renovation project.

Before touching the turf, he studied the grass and soil best suited for the area and use. By 1960, his legend — and the stadium's grass — was growing strong.

Toma has some advice for ways to maintain grass that gets a lot of traffic — such as that in parks, playing fields and special function areas.

"Aerify or aerate, get some organic fertilizer down into the hole and you will see the happy sight of "green bottle caps at the hole," he said. "This is where the grass is responding to the fresh air at the root zone and the fertilizer properly stimulating the plants."

We showed him one problem area where the grass looked pitiful. We knew it was from too much shade, construction damage, a wet winter and maybe the wrong kind of grass.

"You know this area gets way more trampling than a football field," he said. "Football happens on a field maybe 10 times a year, and even though those guys weigh upward of 300 pounds, their weight is distributed widely, and the grass can recover.

"Grass grows by inches and is killed by feet."

We could see just what he meant.

Plant roots need oxygen to grow properly. An aerated, oxygenated soil is nearly as important to grass growth as water or fertilizer.

Toma uses fertilizer high in potassium to toughen the grass. Potassium makes it tight and tough. He uses lots of fertilizer high in nitrogen because he mows his lawns every day. (Too much nitrogen in a normal turf can make the plants grow too "soft" and weak, he said.) He also looks for fertilizers that have micronutrients like sulfur, calcium and iron.

Sometimes, iron is chemically unavailable to the plants because of complex soil chemistry. When that happens, he uses a different, more available form of iron, such as ferromec.

There is so much to learn about even a "simple" plant like grass.

Toma is a great inspiration to "dirt gardeners" like me.