June 17, 2020
Liz Writes Life
Folks have been letting me know how their gardens are doing.
One friend was expecting to pick his first zucchini and another emailed a huge
list of fruit trees, berry plants, perennial and annual garden vegetables
growing in the couple’s garden. Everyone has different ways of gardening. I say
whatever works for you is great. But, I have decided one thing – it does take
consistent work. And, maybe, more work than we planned on. Yep!
Some irrigation systems with timers, mulching, and raised
beds can certainly reduce the time spent in the garden, but the plants must
still be checked on every day or two. There are threats of irrigation systems
getting plugged, insects that attack, weeding and the need for extra
fertilizer.
When my dad worked the ranch, when I was a kid, I recall that
every evening he spent time out in the garden, as the sun was going down, weeding,
digging around the plants and re-furrowing for irrigation water to flow down
the rows. Mom usually worked in it each morning. She was the picker and canner.
For quite a few years, I have not had much problem with
gophers or moles digging tunnels. But this spring they are raising havoc. One
of the small cucumber plants succumbed to the loose soil, before I found it.
Then, I barely saved a two-leaved cantaloupe in time. I try to mash-down the
tunnels as quickly as possible and even run a bunch of water down the hole with
the hose.
Luckily, Monday morning I walked out onto the porch in time
to see one of my old arthritic cats eating on a mole. What a good kitty!
Want to mention the lettuce has bolted and gone to seed. It
is about two-feet tall. I will chop it up and put it back down on that row as
mulch. With the heat coming this weekend, I better harvest the few spinach
plants that are left. The onions starts have doubled in size to four-inches,
but are still too tender to transplant. I fertilized last week with Hawaiian
Bud and Bloom. The cucumbers look happier. I also started staking-up the six
tomato plants that are well-over a foot tall with some blooms. The peas are
producing, so I am making stir-fry for dinner.
Klamath Project
The saga of the government taking away legal water right
allocations to 1,200 farmers in the government-encouraged Klamath Project
continues. I attended many meetings in 2001 and reported (for a Fort Jones
newspaper) on the entire shut-off of water to Klamath Project farmers and saw
first-hand the fraudulent government scientific information that was used to
justify the taking of irrigation water. It was excruciatingly sad, humiliating and
down-right wrong.
But, believe it or not, this year is even worse because the Klamath
Project farmers were told by federal agencies they would receive at least some
water – but less than half their legal amount. Most farmers obtain loans to
plant their crops, so they plan accordingly. Now, their crops are in the ground
and growing. But, last month, federal agencies said the project’s water
allotments would be reduced – again – meaning no water for July, August and
September.
A rally called “Shut down and Fed Up” was held on May 29, 2020
with more than 2,000 people showing-up with tractors, log trucks, hay trucks, pick-ups
and cars rolling from Merrill, OR. into Klamath Falls, OR. and down through the
basin to Midland, OR. It was over 20 miles long.
In 2001, well-over 15,000 supporters showed-up to the Bucket
Brigade Rally held on May 7th. I, and many Siskiyou Co. agriculturists, attended.
It was quite the peaceful rally.
The fight continues to be about water needed for the sucker fish
that are listed with the Endangered Species Act. Drought adds to the lack of
water. This is where the government’s science has caused this huge problem. It
has been proven the modeling and science to improve the suckers’ numbers is
wrong, yet the federal bureaucrats turn a blind eye.
Last Thursday, June 11, 2020, a huge pulse of water was
released from the Upper Klamath Lake down the Klamath River with the
expectation of flushing out a parasite that can harm salmon – not the suckers. This
pulse was so large that it caused flooding. The pulse was ramped-up for at
least five days taking the legally-stored water, which is the legal water-right
to the Klamath Project farmers. Such a waste! So this is creating another federal
government-made drought, which will destroy food and farmers. Why?
Our Dist. 1 Congressman, Doug LaMalfa, has been seriously
engaged with other Oregon and California elected-officials, including our
Siskiyou Co. supervisors, to pressure the federal bureaucrats and get the legal
water back to the farmers. It is a mountainous job. LaMalfa drove a tractor in
the May 29th rally. He and his staff have been attending meetings
and explaining the dire situation with U.S. President Donald Trump’s
administration.
Of the situation, LaMalfa said: “With the
current uncertainly to our nation’s food supply chain because of COVID-19,
Klamath Basin farmers play a key role in producing for their market share of
our nation’s food supply. They’ve worked for generations to supply this country
with their unique crops. The federal government has, in this last-minute water
grab, created its own unnecessary disaster that threatens the entire Klamath
Basin’s 2020 crop year – its prosperity and way of life – only compounding the
ability to keep healthy food on our nation’s supermarket shelves. Farmers
typically contend with the possibility of poor weather and crop prices in a
given crop years, but this year, atrocious forecasting and a mind-boggling eleventh-hour
water cut by federal bureaucrats have caused potential for the greatest
calamity the Basin has ever seen.”
The project farmers cultivate 210,000 acres of
wheat, barley, alfalfa, potatoes, onions, horseradish, sugar beets and other
crops. Hypocrisy and this destruction to farmers does not bode well for the
health and well-being of the United States’ people.
Next week, I will explain some history of this
government-made farming area, which is, ironically, under-siege by that same
government.
Liz
Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She
is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near Callahan. Columns from the past
year can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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