Feb. 26, 2019
Liz Writes Life
Sure do like the rain – just hope it stays cold in the higher
elevations and doesn’t rain the snow off. I see that temperatures are predicted
to be fairly warm, especially at night. That deep cold polar vortex missed us,
so our winter hasn’t been too harsh this year.
A week or so ago, I stopped by the Etna Hardware store. Ron
Mayfield had saved some butter crunch organic lettuce seeds for me from a
company that didn’t want the seeds packages back. That was a nice surprise.
Thanks Ron. And it is a reminder that right now is a perfect time to scatter
some seeds in a 2x3 foot spot in the garden and let nature take its course. If
I put a couple clear plastic tubs over the area, it would help them germinate
sooner. It wouldn’t take long or very much effort to do this project. So,
between storms this week, I need to get those seeds scratched in the ground.
I asked Ron if he was doing any gardening and, yes, he is –
and it sounds pretty successful. Last year, I wrote about Ron using plastic
milk gallon jugs to grow lettuces this time of year. It worked so well that he
has about 40 jugs outside in his garden area and most of them have two to six-inch
lettuces or bok choy growing in them and need to be transplanted! For some
reason, the chard did not germinate very well.
his year, Ron waited until after the equinox to plant, so
the plants would be encouraged by the constant days of increasing daylight. He
takes rinsed-out plastic milk jugs and cuts them in half leaving a hinge of
plastic uncut. The four-inch bottom is filled with soil and tiny seeds are
scattered on top. He then duct-tapes the jugs closed. Ron makes sure there is
sufficient moisture inside and leaves the lid off. The jugs are set outside in
the garden area and covered with clear plastic making a dome by sealing the
sides with soil, rocks, boards or bricks. This makes a quite nice green house
or terrarium with very little expense.
January was pretty warm and he checked the jugs nearly every day
to make sure there was sufficient moisture. It was always moist and warm
underneath the plastic, he said. A week or so ago, the red-leafed lettuce was
several inches-tall and Ron decided to harvest some by cutting it off just above
the soil line as it will grow back. Ron shyly (but with a smile) reported that
he and wife, Susan, enjoyed two salads and four sandwiches with the fresh lettuce.
Pretty nice!
Because night temps will be warm this week, Ron will take the
clear plastic off and let the rain naturally add moisture to the jugs. He plans
on transplanting directly into the garden, where he can make a dome with the
clear plastic. Ron is so successful with this method that he said he feels like
a “mad scientist” trying different varieties and types of seeds. Go, Ron go!
You are encouraging the rest of us to give it a try. And after all, we are starting
into March, so we can be thinking about planting things that survive night
frosts, like cabbage and broccoli.
Weekly news
There has been quite the discussions, this week, after
Siskiyou Daily News Editor Skye Kincade, announced the daily will begin
publishing as a weekly. Some people seemed pretty unhappy and others understood.
So, I decided I would jump into the fray.
In her response to Anne Marsh, Skye hit the nail on the head.
In my observation, (I have not talked to Skye) this is a decision made above
the SDN level, so Skye has to deal with it. We are lucky the corporate office
didn’t decide to just shut SDN down. So, it could have been worse.
Many folks are blaming technology for the threat to hardcopy newspapers; and it has changed the way most of us obtain our news and
information. But, I am going to point to our poor economy and poke the green
enviro agenda, because our local Mom and Pop businesses also have a difficult
time staying in business. Yes, subscriptions support the newspaper, but
advertising is the life-blood. Over the years, I have watched advertising diminish
– greatly, because businesses have taken the hit and are no longer here.
When timber was a robust economy in the 1980s and 1990s, we
had lots of stores in our towns and at the county seat of Yreka. Then the
enviros began complaining and suing. “Too many trees were being cut,” according
to the few outspoken ones. And, unfortunately, many people jumped on that bandwagon,
including the courts. Now there are very few trees being thinned from our
Klamath National Forest and it is much more difficult to harvest trees on
private property than it used to be.
And, now, we are also dealing with devastating wildfire, because
the forests are too thick. Just doesn’t make sense.
I had a question about the amount of trees that grow each
year. Our Siskiyou Co. Dist. 5 Supervisor, Ray Haupt, is a retired district
forest ranger. So, I asked him how much growth is estimated within the Klamath
National Forest and how much was harvested at the peak of timber harvests in
the 1980s. They don’t count the growth in trees. It is in million board feet of
timber shortened to mmbf. So for a snapshot of commercial-type trees that could
be harvested, KNF increases about 600 mmbf a year. The most that was ever
harvested in one year was less than 250 mmbf – less than half of the growth.
And after all the lawsuits and the corrupt NorthWest Forest Plan, much less is
harvested now. No, wonder the forests are too thick. We were never close to
over-harvesting. Never! Such a travesty.
POW
Ray Haupt will be at the Scott Valley Protect Our Water
meeting this Thurs, Feb. 28, 2019 to discuss fresh info on forests and fire, groundwater,
CA. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife and The Nature Conservancy. Believe it or not,
there is more good news regarding saving the Klamath dams. Erin Ryan, from Congressman Doug LaMalfa’s
office, will also be speaking. After a three-month break, POW will be meeting
monthly again at the Fort Jones Community Center at 7 p.m. Desserts are welcome
to help everyone digest all the political ramifications.
Liz Bowen began writing ranch and farm news, published in
newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou County and lives near
Callahan. Call her at 530-467-3515.
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