May 8, 2018
Liz Writes Life
Sounds like Scott Valley weekend events were well-attended. A
live band played at the Callahan Mt. Bolivar Grange Taco Feed and the sun
gave-out just the right temperature for the rodeo activities in Etna. Boy, we
have had some gorgeous spring mornings lately.
Garden
Well, I changed my mind. I checked the long-range outlook on
weather and it looks like we may be able to plant earlier this year – like this
week. The last half of the month shows the daytime temps fairly normal in the
high 70s, but what is surprising to me is that the nighttime temps are pretty
high in the 40s with just a few nights threatening to drop into the high-30s.
Not that I totally trust the weather reports, but it is the nighttime or rather
early-morning-just-before-sun-up cold temps that will bring on killing frosts.
So, if you are prepared to cover those tomato plants and any seeds that have
sprouted, we may get a few weeks jump on raising our summer annuals this year.
Disclaimer: I could be wrong! So, good luck.
Here’s an idea for starting plants, but you will need to wait
until next February to try it as it is just too hot to do it now. Ron Mayfield
gardens at his home in Etna. He told me that he used milk jugs to start his
plants and it sounds like a super-easy way to do it, cuz he left them outside!
Ron rinsed the empty milk jug then sliced around the jug about five to six
inches up from the bottom. He left about two inches uncut, where the handle is.
That was the hinge.
Ron made a his own mixture of soil with organic fertilizer
and other things, moistened it really well and put it in the milk jugs –
probably tamping down a bit. Then he added seeds. I forgot to ask how he labeled
them, but it would easy to use a permanent marker to write on the plastic jug.
He planted kale, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage and sweet peas and maybe more than
I remember. Then Ron put the top-half of the jug back down and duct-taped it.
The lid is left off the very top. The neat part about this is that he just left
them outside sitting in his cleared-off garden. Yep, no watering! Ron said he
could see the condensation on warm days and they were protected enough on the
cold days and even colder nights.
He did two batches: One in early Feb., when it was warm and
another batch at the end of Feb., when it had turned a lot colder. Both did
well. I believe the plastic jug warms up that soil, which is a major secret to
getting seeds to germinate.
His biggest problem was getting them transplanted -- before
they got too big and the roots were intertwined. Some plants were even trying
to grow out of the top! Ron also had a lot to transplant, since he did over 25
jugs. He told me the sweet peas are two to three times taller than the ones he
had planted directly into the garden soil. Thanks Ron for sharing.
Gotta also mention how fabulous the lilacs are this year. My
Fowler lilac is huge by my door, so I get to enjoy the fragrance as well as the
beauty.
Dams
While our Dist. 5 Siskiyou Co. Supervisor, Ray Haupt, was at
the American Forestry Resource Council conference, last month, he was able to
meet with a Natural Resource Policy staff person for Klickitat County, WA. This
is where the Condit dam used to be located on the White Salmon River, which
runs into the Columbia River.
This dam was hydro-electric owned by PacifiCorp. It was built
in 1913 and was breached in Oct. 2011. Dam destruction was controversial, but real
fallout and facts are now known. Ray said this new information will be used to
demand FERC, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, do additional studies and
requirements to protect private property and the environment.
Here are the major facts Ray learned.
First: It was under-predicted how long it would take to draw
down the reservoir water behind the dams. In-flows were much higher than
expected, so the powers-that-be just blew a hole in the dam. If this action was
used here on our earthen dams, it would certainly threaten everyone who lives
down river, Ray said.
Second: Sediment was much higher than what was “modeled.” It is
estimated that three times the sediment went down the White Salmon River the
first year. This has caused a huge dumping of sediment at the mouth of the
river detrimental to salmon. Ironically, the Tribes now want the EPA,
Environmental Protection Agency, to dredge the sediment out of the mouth of the
White Salmon River.
Third: Houses and cabins around the reservoir were affected.
All had to have new wells drilled, due to the drawdown of the ground water and
half of them ended-up condemned because the foundations were compromised.
Fourth: The environmental analysis did not predict the
surrounding vegetation and forest would die. It did!
Fifth: The analysis of toxins was woefully inadequate. Higher
than expected toxins were flushed down the river in the sediment and the
sediment that became exposed from the dried-up reservoir held carcinogens that
became airborne from dust storms harming humans. This should be a problem for
EPA.
Sixth: The returning salmon numbers are still really low.
Fishermen were traded for rafters on the river. You decide if
that is good or bad.
The town of White Salmon did make demands to FERC and was
able to obtain a new water system; and the local irrigation district secured a
water right.
Ray said Klickitat County did not fight very hard and,
unfortunately, came away with nothing regarding compensation of any kind.
It was also admitted that the Condit dam was a bait and
switch – a trading chip -- to relicense three larger and major hydro-electric
dams on the Louis River in Idaho.
So with all of these new facts, many of which we in Siskiyou
were already touting, Ray is pleased that Siskiyou Co. has a top-notch environmental
and county legal team in place working to provide scientific facts to FERC.
The Klickitat Co. staff person was impressed with how hard
Siskiyou Co. is fighting to save our Klamath dams. So am I. Thanks Ray for
obtaining this new information.
Remember, it is Mother’s Day next Sunday.
Liz Bowen is a native of Siskiyou Co. and lives near
Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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