Potato Lover's Month

Did you know that February is National Potato Lover’s Month? I sure didn’t. When I was growing up on a farm, every month was potato month. In fact, it was the rare meal, whether it was breakfast, dinner or supper that we didn’t eat potatoes in some form—boiled, mashed, baked, fried, in soup, in a casserole, in a stew—we grew a lot of potatoes and we ate a bunch of them, too.

We called potatoes by a variety of names: spuds, taters, even Murphies (apparently some connection to the Irish who were known for their potatoes). My brother Darrel, a great lover of potatoes as a kid, was nicknamed Murph, which he seldom goes by these days.

The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, that helps promote the various national promotions, says the average American eats 126 pounds of potatoes each year, which is a good thing as Wisconsin produces 2.2 billion pounds of potatoes making it third in the nation after such potato giants as Idaho and Washington State.

So forget about calories (a medium size spud only has 110), and dig in. Who can’t love a potato, whether its potato lover’s month or not?

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: If all you have left in the pantry is potatoes, you still have plenty to eat.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
March 6, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble-West, Madison. Launch of Garden Wisdom.

March 9-11. Canoecopia, Alliant Center, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) I am speaking at 4:30 on Friday, March 9 and at 2:30 on Saturday, March 10. Steve will share Boundary Waters photos as part of Saturday’s presentation.

March 24. Launch of Garden Wisdom book at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Dinner at six. Contact the library for reservations: 920-622-3835. Presentation and book signing to follow.

March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum (Thornhill Education Center), Chicago area. Presentation on vegetable gardening, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on March 31. Sunday, April 1, 1:30-3:30 features a vegetable gardening workshop, with tips on planting and caring for a vegetable garden. Additionally, Ruth will discuss preparing vegetables and fruits for canning and freezing.

April 12, 7:00 p.m. Mcmillan Library, Wisconsin Rapids. Garden Wisdom

April 13, 11:00 a.m. Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio. Broadcasting at Fox Cities Book Festival. Garden Wisdom.

April 13, 2:00 p.m. Fox Cities Book Festival, Neenah. Garden Wisdom

Red Wing Water Cooler

A five gallon Red Wing water cooler sat on the edge of the sink at the Chain O’ Lake country school that I attended for eight years. An older student filled it each morning with water carried from the pump house just south of the school building, an every morning task no matter if it was 80 degrees or minus 20. The school building had no indoor plumbing, so carrying water was one of the many daily duties we students helped with.

At home a water pail sat at the edge of the kitchen sink, filled each day in the same manner as at school, except at home we drank from a dipper that hung on the side of the water pail.

The dull gray Red Wing water cooler was much, much fancier than a water pail. A shiny curved metal tube came out of the bottom of the cooler, and ended at a little metal bowl hanging over the sink. By pushing a button, water burst up from the bowl a couple of inches or more, depending on how much water there was in the cooler. As we might say today, how cool it was to be able to drink water this way.

This weekend we visited Red Wing, Minnesota and toured the former manufacturing plant for Red Wing Pottery, an enormous four-story brick building near the Mississippi River. Red Wing Pottery goes back to the 1870s, and some pottery is still made in Red Wing but on a much more limited scale and not in this old historic building. In addition to antique stores, and numerous shops and several restaurants, one can tour the pottery museum on the second floor of the building.

I have never seen so many pottery crocks, water coolers and assorted dinnerware. I couldn’t believe it when I learned that water coolers similar to the one at our country school now sell for between $1,600 and $2,000 dollars on the antique market. “And when one comes in, someone immediately buys it,” the woman at the antique store said.

I can picture that old schoolhouse water cooler in my mind as clearly as the first day I saw it in 1939. My memory is worth at least $2,000 I am telling myself.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes I don’t see as well as I think I remember.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 10, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison. 6-8 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

February 11. Janesville, Holiday Inn, noon luncheon speaker, FFA Alumni meeting.

February 12, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison, 1-4 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

March 6, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble-West, Madison. Launch of Garden Wisdom.

March 9-11. Canoecopia, Alliant Center, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) I am speaking at 4:30 on Friday, March 9 and at 2:30 on Saturday, March 10. Steve will share Boundary Waters photos as part of Saturday’s presentation.

March 24. Six p.m. dinner followed by presentation and book signing. at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Garden Wisdom.

March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum (Thornhill Education Center), Chicago area. Presentation on vegetable gardening, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on March 31. Sunday, April 1, 1:30-3:30 features a vegetable gardening workshop, with tips on planting and caring for a vegetable garden. Additionally, Ruth will discuss preparing vegetables and fruits for canning and freezing.

April 12, 7:00 p.m. Mcmillan Library, Wisconsin Rapids. Garden Wisdom

April 13, 11:00 a.m. Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio. Broadcasting at Fox Cities Book Festival. Garden Wisdom.

April 13, 2:00 p.m. Fox Cities Book Festival, Neenah Public Library. Garden Wisdom

More Weather Predictors

My last week’s discussion of old time weather forecasting caught the attention of several people who replied to my blog. One writer asked, in regard to wild bird behavior, “If birds crowded together on an electric wire, does that mean cold weather is on the way, and are they cuddling for warmth?” Could be. I must pay more attention to cuddling birds on a wire to affirm the suggestion.

Other weather predictors: red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky in the morning—bad weather within 24 hours. A ring around the moon usually means a major storm is on the way. Another weather predictor I learned from my father: watch the smoke coming from the chimney. If it rises, good weather at hand. If it trails downward, a storm is on the way. Last week, when I returned to the cabin from a short hike I smelled oak smoke and noticed the smoke from the kitchen chimney was hanging near the ground. Yup, it snowed that evening.

Send me your tried and true weather predictors, and I’ll share them.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Find some time to read a book. You might be surprised what you’ll learn.

CHECK THIS OUT: Steve Henry wrote a review of my Boundary Waters book for the Chippewa Herald. http://chippewa.com/news/opinion/columns/henry-outdoors-provides-an-invaluable-education/article_fa6a7830-46be-11e1-9692-001871e3ce6c.html

A REQUEST: Got any good family stories about early farming history in Wisconsin? I’m working on a new book about Wisconsin agricultural history. Contact me at jwapps@tds.net.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

February 10, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison. 6-8 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

February 11. Janesville, Holiday Inn, noon luncheon speaker, FFA Alumni meeting.

February 12, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison, 1-4 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

March 6, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble-West, Madison. Launch of Garden Wisdom.

March 9-11. Canoecopia, Alliant Center, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) I am speaking at 4:30 on Friday, March 9 and at 2:30 on Saturday, March 10. Steve will share Boundary Waters photos as part of Saturday’s presentation.

March 24. Six p.m. Launch of Garden Wisdom book at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Details coming.

March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum (Thornhill Education Center), Chicago area. Presentation on vegetable gardening, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on March 31. Sunday, April 1, 1:30-3:30 features a vegetable gardening workshop, with tips on planting and caring for a vegetable garden. Additionally, Ruth will discuss preparing vegetables and fruits for canning and freezing.

Predicting The Weather

My dad, a life-long farmer, had an uncanny ability to predict the weather. After the evening chores were done in summer, he’d watch the sunset, note the direction of the wind, and proclaim what kind of weather we’d have for the next couple days. Quite important to know when you’re a farmer.

During the winter, he often predicted snowstorms and cold weather using even more subtle techniques than wind direction or the sunset. He’d say something like, “Big storm is coming, I can feel it in my bones.” I don’t know what he was feeling, but he was usually correct.

Dad has been gone for nearly twenty years, so I’m stuck with figuring out the coming weather on my own. Of course I could listen to radio weather reports and watch the fancy radar clouds march across the TV weather map while someone, with an overly confident voice predicts future weather. I do that of course.

But these days my surefire way to predict winter snowstorms is to watch my backyard bird feeder. Take last Thursday, the day before four inches of snow fell in our part of the world. The cardinals were especially busy, competing with each other, crowding each other away from the little trough of sunflower and other cardinal delectables.

Today, with the storm in the past, the bird feeder is quiet—except for a nosy squirrel trying to figure out why the birdfeeder closes when it crawls on the perch bar. But I keep watching the feeder. This time of the year another snowstorm is usually not too far in the future.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: The best thing to do when it snows is to let it snow.

CHECK THIS OUT: My website is updated. www.jerryapps.com

A REQUEST: Got any good family stories about early farming history in Wisconsin? I’m working on a new book about Wisconsin agricultural history. Contact me at jwapps@tds.net.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
February 10, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison. 6-8 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

February 11. Janesville, noon luncheon speaker, FFA Alumni meeting.

February 12, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison, 1-4 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

March 6, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble-West, Madison. Launch of Garden Wisdom.

March 9-11. Canoecopia, Alliant Center, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) I am speaking at 4:30 on Friday, March 9 and at 2:30 on Saturday, March 10. Steve will share Boundary Waters photos as part of Saturday’s presentation.

March 24. Six p.m. Launch of Garden Wisdom book at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Details coming.

March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum (Thornhill Education Center), Chicago area. Presentation on vegetable gardening, 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. on March 31. Sunday, April 1, 1:30-3:30 features a vegetable gardening workshop, with tips on planting and caring for a vegetable garden. Additionally, Ruth will discuss plus preparing vegetables and fruits for canning and freezing.

Midwest Farm Show

They came from the north and from the south, from the east and from across the Mississippi River to the west. Farm people mostly. Those who had spent their years tilling the land and were now taking it a little easy. Those younger and actively farming. Kids and grand kids. Lots of kids and grandkids; trying to crawl up on the huge tractors and sneaking a peek behind the curtains. All coming to LaCrosse, to the Midwest Farm Show, one of the first of the season.
The 34th annual Farm Show held January 11-12 at the beautiful LaCrosse Center on the banks of the Mississippi.

They came to kick the tires of giant tractors, see modern milking equipment, talk with the dealers and the salespeople, learn about new farm buildings, and chat with friends and neighbors. If they arrived on Wednesday, they basked in 57 degree temperatures; if they came on Thursday, they drove in a snowstorm with temperatures struggling to reach the high teens.

A goodly number gathered each day to hear me remind them of what farming was like in an earlier day, before electricity and indoor plumbing when we milked cows by hand and lighted the barn with a kerosene lantern, talked on a party-line telephone and listened to a battery-powered radio.

A couple of days of contrasts—old and new ways of farming, and warm, near spring like weather abruptly replaced with a January snowstorm.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Try not to get ahead of yourself. And never forget where you’ve been.

CHECK THIS OUT: My website is updated. www.jerryapps.com

UPCOMING EVENTS:
February 10, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison. 6-8 p.m.
Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

February 11. Janesville, noon luncheon speaker, FFA Alumni meeting.

February 12, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison, 1-4 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

March 6, 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble-West, Madison. Launch of Garden Wisdom.

March 9-11. Canoecopia, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) Scheduled speaking time not yet determined.

March 24. Six p.m. Launch of Garden Wisdom book at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Details coming.

March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum, Chicago area. Talk and workshop. Details coming.

January

January is:
A time for endings, and a time for beginnings.
A time to regroup and a time to reconsider.
A time to reflect and a time to revise.
A time to evaluate and a time to plan for the morrow.

January is a quiet month, when all of nature rests—
the trees and the grasses,
the wildflowers and the birds,
the animals and the pond creatures.

January is a month of great beauty,
of blacks and whites, and grays
and a sprinkling of green from the pines,
the firs and the spruces that dot the northern regions.

January is a time to listen for the silence,
when the cold tightens its grip,
turning breath into clouds and thickening the ice on the lakes,
When snow cover muffles all sound.


THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take time to appreciate January.


UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 11 and 12. 12:30 each day. Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Stories from the land.

February 10, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison. 6-8 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

February 11. Janesville, noon luncheon speaker, FFA Alumni meeting.

February 12, Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison, 1-4 p.m. Wisconsin Historical Society Press booth, signing copies of Garden Wisdom.

March 9-11. Canoecopia, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) Scheduled speaking time not yet determined.

March 24. Six p.m. Launch of Garden Wisdom book at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Details coming.

March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum, Chicago area. Presentaton and workshop. Details coming.

New Year Thoughts

Did you know that the Romans named the first month of the year after Janus? Janus was the god of beginnings and was depicted with two faces. One looked forward into the future; the other looked backward to the past. The Romans believed that on New Year’s Eve, Janus looked back at the old year and forward to the new.

Did you know that the Babylonians were believed to be the first to make New Year’s resolutions? Early Christians believed the first day of the new year should be spent reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself in the coming new year.

Did you know that the traditional dropping of the ball on New Year’s eve in New York's Times Square started in 1907 with a ball made of iron and wood.

THE OLD TIMER remembers an oft spoken farmer phrase, “This year will be better.”

UPCOMING EVENTS:

January 11 and 12. 12:30 each day. Midwest Farm Show, LaCrosse Center, LaCrosse, WI. Stories from the land.

February 11. Janesville, noon luncheon speaker, FFA Alumni meeting.

March 9-11. Canoecopia, Madison. (Trade show for all things canoeing) Scheduled speaking time not yet determined.

March 24. Six p.m. Launch of Garden Wisdom book at Patterson Memorial Library Wild Rose. Details coming.

March 31-April 1. Morton Arboretum, Chicago area. Talk and workshop. Details coming.