Friday, April 27, 2012

Garden Report


 You’ll recall that I planted some of my early crop vegetables back in March, when spring abruptly replaced winter and acted like summer for several days.

So far my experiment worked, mostly anyway.  The radishes, carrots, beets, onions, peas and lettuce are all up and doing fairly well, considering too many mornings with temps in the 20s.  Alas, I’m still waiting for the early potatoes to appear.  It’s been more than month, and I should see some potato life.  I’ll wait a few more days before I become concerned.

This weekend the fence goes up—these early crops will soon be discovered by our resident deer and wild turkeys.  And I’ll plant a couple of rows of sweet corn.  It’s probably too early to plant sweet corn, but I’ll give it a try.

My indoor plants, cabbage, kohlrabi, broccoli and five different varieties of tomatoes have become leggy and overgrown with too little bright sunshine—I’ve only had them outside for a couple days and then had to drag them in with reports of frosty mornings.  I may have to repot them.  I don’t plan on setting out any of this tender stuff in the garden until late May.

Like every year, gardening has its challenges.  But that’s one of the reasons I keep doing it.  Each year offers something new, something different.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Want a challenge that’s also great fun.  Start a vegetable garden.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 29, 2:00 p.m. Lucille Tack Center for the Arts, Spencer, WI. I will be discussing my Ames County series of novels: THE TRAVELS OF INCREASE JOSEPH, BLUE SHADOWS FARM, IN A PICKLE and CRANBERRY RED. Free to the public.

May 3, 7:00 p.m. New Glarus High School. Town of New Glarus Parks.  Barns of Wisconsin.

May 7, 7:00 p.m. Cultural Center, Cedarburg, Ozaukee County Historical Society.  Barns of Wisconsin.

May 19, 1-4:00 p.m. Old World Wisconsin. Book signing. Garden Wisdom, Barns  of Wisconsin, Horse Drawn Days.

May 20, 9:15 a.m., Adult Education, Midvale Lutheran Church, Madison. Garden Wisdom

May 20, 7:00 p.m. Lebanon Historical Society, Lebanon. Barns of Wisconsin.








May 20, 9:15 a.m. Midvale Community Lutheran Church, Adult Education.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Earth Day 2012

Earth Day! It all began on April 22, 1970. Hats off to Wisconsin’s then Senator Gaylord Nelson, father of Earth Day, who had an eye for the future and passion for taking care of the environment.

What can you do to commemorate the day?

--Take a walk in the woods. Bring along a child or a grandchild, and walk quietly. Listening, watching, feeling, taking it all in.

--Plant a tree.

--Watch a sunset. Do it several times. No two are alike. Sunrises are great as well, sometimes even better.

--Start a vegetable garden. It doesn’t have to be more than a few rows. What a great feeling it is to know that you grew this food—and that the travel time, and cost, to deliver it to you was nil.

--Encourage your child or grandchild to help you in the garden. So they will know that carrots grow in the ground, that green beans grow on bushes that sweet corn grows on stalks. And that weeds need hoeing.

--Pull a copy of Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac from the shelf and read a few chapters—A Wisconsin story, this book. A sand country story.

--And when you’ve finished with Sand County Almanac, try a few chapter of Walden, Henry David Thoreau’s masterpiece.

--Listen to a pair of sandhill cranes flying overhead, calling their mysterious and ancient call.

--Take a child or a grandchild fishing. A great way to enjoy the outdoors—and learn something about patience at the same time. You also just might catch a fish.

--Go for a walk.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Let’s make Earth Day every day!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

April 27, 4:30 p.m. Friends of Wisconsin Historical Society: Old World Wisconsin (Eagle, WI, Dinner, auction, and presentation on BARNS OF WISCONSIN.

April 28, 11:00 – 4:00. Wisconsin Public TV at Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose. Residents of the area are asked to bring in family farm photos for possible inclusion in a documentary film about farm life in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s that Wis Public TV is doing. Photos will be immediately scanned and returned.

April 29, 2:00 p.m. Lucille Tack Center for the Arts, Spencer, WI. I will be discussing my Ames County series of novels: THE TRAVELS OF INCREASE JOSEPH, BLUE SHADOWS FARM, IN A PICKLE and CRANBERRY RED. Free to the public.

May 7, 7:00 p.m. Cultural Center, Cedarburg, WI Barns of Wisconsin. Ozaukee County Historical Society.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

A Trail Through The Woods

Steve and I with some help from daughter Sue and son-in-law Paul, and brother Don hacked out a new trail in our 60 acre woodlot.

Uphill and downhill, between the ponds, around stones, through blackberry thickets, avoiding the big white oaks and black oaks and maple trees, with a chainsaw cutting through downed trees, and slicing off low hanging limbs. Hard work, but fun work, too. Deciding where to go and where not to go.

As I reflected on our trail building, it so much like life itself. We reach high points and then often are thrust into a valley, we meet an obstacle and then must decide to confront it or go around it. We lob off the low branches of our life, and, if we take time, stop occasionally to appreciate what we have done and enjoy the view—as we did building a new trail through the woods last week.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: There is more to trail building than meets the eye.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
April 21, 1:00 p.m. Cedarburg Public Library. Garden Wisdom

April 22, 11:30 a.m. Fond du Lac Historical Society (795 Fond du Lac Ave). Dinner. Remembering our Rural Heritage.

April 27, 4:30 p.m. Friends of Wisconsin Historical Society: Old World Wisconsin (Eagle, WI, Dinner, auction, and presentation on BARNS OF WISCONSIN.

April 28, 11:00 – 4:00. Wisconsin Public TV at Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose. Residents of the area are asked to bring in family farm photos for possible inclusion in a documentary film about farm life in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s that Wis Public TV is doing. Photos will be immediately scanned and returned.

April 29, 2:00 p.m. Lucille Tack Center for the Arts, Spencer, WI. I will be discussing my Ames County series of novels: THE TRAVELS OF INCREASE JOSEPH, BLUE SHADOWS FARM, IN A PICKLE and CRANBERRY RED. Free to the public

Saturday, April 07, 2012

Early Garden Crops Planted

We’ve made history this spring. The first time ever that I planted garden in March. I plowed down my winter rye on March 20th, and on Saturday the 24th, when my helper crew arrived, we began planting. A little reluctantly, I might add, as a year ago on that date there was still snow on the ground. We planted lettuce, radishes, carrots, beets, onions, peas and two rows of early potatoes.

The temperature was in the 70s, a pair of sandhills was raising a raucous in the valley to the west, and two pair of very noisy Canada geese were staking out nesting claims on either end of the pond. We could hear them, but we kept working. A pair of bluebirds worked as hard as we, as they were building a nest in the bird house to the north of the cabin. All the creatures at the farm are hustling and hurrying, believing that spring is really here and a month early.

On April 2, we planted ten rows of late potatoes. The radishes are up, the lettuce is poking through, and the peas are deciding if they want to face considerably less warm weather than we experienced a couple weeks ago. But the rest of the garden crops—especially the tomatoes will sit on my window sill until near the end of May.

One of the reasons I keep gardening is the mystery of it all, and never knowing what will happen, and whether things will grow or not. So far, this season appears to have the most mystery I’ve seen in my more than 60 years of vegetable gardening.

CHECK THIS OUT: Listen in to Wisconsin Public Radio, the Larry Meiller Show on Friday, April 13 at 11:00. We’ll be in front of a live audience, and I’ll be talking about my book, GARDEN WISDOM.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: If it’s surprises you’re looking for, try growing a vegetable garden.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
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 Library. Garden Wisdom

April 14, 10 a.m.-12 a.m., AAUW, Lacrosse, WI (Garden Wisdom)

April 15, 12:30 p.m. -2:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, LaCrosse (Campfires and Loon Calls, and my newest book, Garden Wisdom)

April 21, 1:00 p.m. Cedarburg Public Library. Garden Wisdom

April 22, 11:30 a.m. Fond du Lac Historical Society (795 Fond du Lac Ave). Dinner. Remembering our Rural Heritage.

April 27, 4:30 p.m. Friends of Wisconsin Historical Society: Old World Wisconsin (Eagle, WI, Dinner, auction, and presentation on BARNS OF WISCONSIN.

April 28, 11:00 – 4:00. Wisconsin Public TV at Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose. Residents of the area are asked to bring in family farm photos for possible inclusion in a documentary film about farm life in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s that Wis Public TV is doing. Photos will be immediately scanned and returned.

April 29, 2:00 p.m. Lucille Tack Center for the Arts, Spencer, WI. I will be discussing my Ames County series of novels: THE TRAVELS OF INCREASE JOSEPH, BLUE SHADOWS FARM, IN A PICKLE and CRANBERRY RED. Free to the public

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Morton Arboretum

Ruth and I are visiting the Morton Arboretum about twenty-five miles west of Chicago this weekend. I am sharing information from my book, GARDEN WISDOM; Ruth is talking about vegetable and fruit preservation.

The Morton Arboretum, some 1700 acres of flowers, trees and prairie, (it includes a one-hundred acre prairie restoration project) was once the country estate of Joy Morton of the Morton Salt Company.

Morton moved here in 1910 and named the place Thornhill. The arboretum was established in 1922 by six members of the family and two executives of the Morton Salt Company.

Today, this showplace of the Mid-west is open to the public, and the public is here, hiking the 16 miles of trails, and biking along the nine miles of paved roads. With our early spring, they could see acres of daffodil’s, many, many red bud trees in full bloom, and even some lilacs sending forth their fragrant flowers.

The address for the Arboretum is Lisle, IL, a bustling business and corporate center. Check it out on www.mortonarb.org.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: It’s good to know that there are still places where peace, tranquility and beauty exist in our hurry, hurry “make a buck” society.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
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 Library. Garden Wisdom

April 14, 10 a.m.-12 a.m., AAUW, Lacrosse, WI (Garden Wisdom)

April 15, 12:30 p.m. -2:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, LaCrosse (Campfires and Loon Calls, and my newest book, Garden Wisdom)

April 21, 1:00 p.m. Cedarburg Public Library. Garden Wisdom

April 22, 11:30 a.m. Fond du Lac Historical Society (795 Fond du Lac Ave). Dinner. Remembering our Rural Heritage.