Memories from the 1942 Sears Christmas Book

 What a surprise Christmas gift I received this year.  One I had not expected.  One I didn’t even think was available.  It’s a facsimile copy of the 1942 Sears Christmas book.   I was eight years old in 1942, a farm kid interested in about everything, especially the items on the pages of this catalog that arrived in our mailbox every November.

World War II had started on December 7, 1941.  And now, a year later, thousands of sons and husbands were off to war.  These were tough times.  The country had just begun to recover from the Great Depression of the 1930s, and now, War with all of its fears and challenges.  And I, a little eight-year-old feasting my eyes on things I would never have because I knew my family was just hanging on after 10 years of low prices and bad weather.

But it cost nothing to look. So, I pored over pages of fun looking toys: An “Exclusive 57-Piece Farm Set,” complete with barn, silo, farmhouse, chicken house, and other farm buildings.  Plus, model cows, horses and wagon, ducks, pigs, and chickens.  All for $2.98.

A cork gun shooting gallery of six crows on a fence, 52 cents. A miniature bowling game with duckpins, 85 cents.  And Tinkertoys.  Oh, how I wanted some Tinkertoys because then I could build things. Regular set, $1.05.  And books, so many books to choose from, “Black Beauty,” “Bambi,” “The Lone Ranger,” 48 cents each. 

And best of all, a windup train (we had no electricity at the time) with thirty-five pieces from a windup engine to the caboose and tracks for the train to run on, $3.88.  This I did receive one year, and I still have it and it still works.

Oh, the memories.  So many memories.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: An old catalog can bring back so many memories.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To learn more about Christmas in days past, see The Quiet Season. Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King, and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books, including my new ones, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

Christmas and Snow

 

For me and many others who live in the north, snow and Christmas go together.  Maybe it’s because of songlines like,” I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,” crooned by Bing Crosby.  The song debuted Christmas Day 1941, just three weeks after Pearl Harbor and the beginning of World War II.  It provided those of us who were living at that time a powerful image that helped us through the war.

Other songs add to that nostalgic view of Christmas with snow such as “Winter Wonderland (1934), and “Let it Snow” (1945).

 Or maybe the tune, “Dashing through the snow with a one-horse open sleigh,” (Jingle Bells), performed at each of the eight Christmas Programs I was a part of at our One-Room Country School. Jingle Bells was written in the mid-1800s and continues popular to this day. 

Oh, not to forget.  Does Santa Claus ride in a wagon, or in buggy, or a convertible auto? No.  He rides in a sleigh. How could Santa make his rounds with no snow?  Unthinkable.

As a kid, Christmas meant Christmas vacation, two weeks away from school.  Two weeks to go skiing, and sledding, and building snow forts, and throwing snowballs at your brothers. Christmas vacation without snow was like going swimming in a dried-up lake.

Often overlooked, but I suspect not so much this year with all the COVID worries, Christmas lights sparkling on new-fallen snow are as beautiful as anything imaginable.

Merry Christmas to all.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Freshly fallen snow makes Christmas special.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To learn more about Christmas in days past, see The Quiet Season. Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King, and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books, including my new ones, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

Christmas Spirit

 

 

During these dark and dismal days, when many of us are challenged by the effects of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, the celebration of Christmas is a bright spot, a chance to see light in the darkness.  An opportunity to feel joy in the midst of despair.

I.remember earlier times when Christmas boosted our spirits.  I recall the Depression years, (1930s) when I was a little kid, living on a sandy, central Wisconsin farm.  Our farm income had hit rock bottom.  To add to the economic misery, dry weather with sand storms  swept across central Wisconsin, day after day, week after week. But we always had something to eat, and a roof over our heads.  We celebrated Christmas with church services, oyster stew on Christmas Eve, a Christmas tree, and a present or, two, often homemade.

I remember so well the World War II years (1941-1945) when several of my cousins were in the military, and everyone prayed that they would once more return home (blessedly they all did). Rationing of everything from tires, gasoline, to sugar challenged everyone.  But we celebrated Christmas with church services, oyster stew on Christmas Eve, a Christmas tree, and a few presents.

I remember the dreaded years of the polio epidemic (1945-1955), when like today, many events were canceled and fear hung in the air like a dirty black cloud.  But we celebrated Christmas with church services—oyster stew on Christmas Eve, a Christmas tree, and some presents.

And now in 2020, my family will celebrate Christmas with virtual church services, oyster stew on Christmas Eve, a Christmas tree, and some presents. And we will feel the joy of the celebration during these trying times.

 THE OLD TIMER SAYS: The celebration of Christmas lifts one’s spirits.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To learn more about Christmas in days past, see The Quiet Season. Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King, and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books, including my new ones, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

Perfect Christmas Tree

 

It’s an annual tradition, which usually takes place on the Sunday following Thanksgiving.  Everyone who is available, kids, grandkids, grandparents—all gather at Roshara, our farm, in search of the perfect Christmas tree.

This year it was daughter Sue, son, Steve, daughter-in-law, Natasha plus the Old Timer who drove the ATV and let the younger ones do the searching.  Searching for the perfect tree.  Not too tall, not to short, not too bushy, not bushy enough.  I heard these words as the search continued.

The search is not an easy one.  We’ve planted over 20,000 trees at Roshara-mostly red pine.  But we also have a goodly number of self-seeded pines—white pine mostly, but a fair number of Scotch pine as well.  Which one should it be—actually the trio was searching for three trees, one for each family, and each family wanting a special tree.  Grandma Ruth likes a full tree with short needles—a Scotch pine fits the bill. Sue and Paul like a similar tree—another Scotch pine.  Steve and Natasha go towards a soft needled white pine.

My job, hauling the trees, more than a half-mile from the back corner of the farm.  And of course, one of the trees fell out of the ATV, without me knowing it. Happens every year. So, it was turning back and searching for the lost tree. All part of the tradition.  All part of the fun. All part of finding a homegrown, wild tree, as we call them.

 THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Christmas is a perfect time for traditions.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To learn more about Christmas in days past, see The Quiet Season. Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King, and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books, including my new ones, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

 

Deer Season: Opening Day

 

Opening Day.  Photo by Jerry Apps

 

It’s opening day of deer season, and I, with a new handwarmer, some beef jerky in my pocket and my 30-30 Winchester lever-action deer rifle, I sit at the ready. The temperature is 17 degrees.  Thankfully there is no wind.  Not a whisper of wind.  The sky is clear.  I am ready.

 

I am sitting at the edge of a little field, where just a week ago I spotted a big deer leaping across where I am sitting.  Couldn’t tell if it was a buck.  Coming out of the pine plantation to the north and following a deer trail. Would I see a repeat?  I am ready.

 

Nothing.  Quiet.  An abundance of quiet, which I rather enjoy.  The sun is creeping over the trees to the east, warming my back.  My back needs warming.  

And then I see movement out of the corner of my eye.  It’s a squirrel, running, stopping to look at me, running some more.  Looking at me again.  And then it disappears.  Nothing else happening.  Surrounded by quiet.

 

Then I see it, a chick-a-dee.  It flies by and lands on a tree limb to my right.  Calling its name over and over again, “Chick-a-dee-dee,  Chick-a-dee-dee.”  Breaking the silence. Welcoming the morning.

 

I’m enjoying the solitude and the quiet.  No phone ringing.  No computer demanding my attention.  But where are the deer?  Are they on a different deer trail this morning?  Or are they hunkering down in some sunny place, enjoying the quiet of a frosty late-November morning?

 

At noon my son, Steve asks, “what did you see?”  My report, “one squirrel and one chick-a-dee.”  He smiles.

 

 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes solitude and quiet is enough reason for deer hunting.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

 

Tune in PBS Wisconsin on Thursday, December 3, 7:00 p.m. for a showing of “Farm Story With Jerry Apps.”

 

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King,  and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books, including my news  ones, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

Annual Deer Season

 

Son, Steve’s buck, 2017.  Photo by Jerry Apps

That mid-November morning in 1946 was dark and cold.  I was up at five and hurried out to the barn with my barn lantern to help with morning milking and chores.   I had turned 12 in July, old enough to buy a deer hunting license and go deer hunting with my dad and our neighbor, Bill Miller.

After a quick breakfast, we loaded our hunting gear in the 1936 Plymouth, picked up Bill and drove about three-quarters of an hour to where Dad and Bill had hunted for many years.  To a place near the Roche A Cri River in Adams County.

Arriving just as the sun was creeping over the horizon, Pa asked me to walk along the banks of the Roche A Cri, driving any deer that might be there.  He said that he and Bill would be waiting about a mile farther on downriver, at a place where the river ran through an open area.  A place where they could bag a deer.

 I had dad’s double-barrel twelve-gauge shotgun, that weighed a ton and had barrels half as long as I was tall.  They said to wait for 15 minutes so they’d have time to get in place.  After a time, I started my walk along the river.  The sun was warm on my back and the gun got heavier with each step.  I stopped, leaned the gun against a tree, and watched the river.  I finally made it to where Pa and Bill waited and wondered what had happened to me.  “Where are the deer?” Pa asked.  I had no answer.

Now, so many years later, I am once more looking forward to the annual deer hunt.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: For many Wisconsin families, deer hunting is a revered family tradition.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Tune in PBS Wisconsin on Thursday, December 3, 7:00 p.m. for a showing of “Farm Story With Jerry Apps.”

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King,  and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

 

First Snow

 

November Snow  Photo by Jerry Apps

It came quietly in the night, hidden by the darkness when most people were sleeping.  Like so many thousands of little pieces of cotton falling from the sky, this first substantial snowfall of the season turned a bleak and brown countryside into a world of white.

As strange as it may seem to some, as a kid, my brothers and I looked forward to the first snowfall.  Now we could search for skis somewhere stored in the woodshed, find our sleds stored there as well, and look for our ice skates for soon the ponds and lakes would freeze and we could once more ice skate.

That morning, we hurried along the mile to our country school, wearing our four-buckle boots for the first time.  Arriving there, we looked forward to the school outdoor games that could only be played when there was snow on the ground.  Fox and Geese was the popular one—a kind of tag game that we played on our snow-covered softball diamond.

And I must not overlook the snowball fights—all in good fun when we hurled snowballs at each other, sometimes in an organized fashion, us against them.  Or not organized, just random snowball throwing.

 Of course, there was a downside to snow on the ground once more.   Milk cows now spent both days and nights in the barn, which meant more chores to do, more straw to carry in for bedding, more manure to haul out each day.

The first snow marked the changing of the seasons, we all looked forward to it.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: When the seasons change on the farm, farm life changes as well.

 UPCOMING EVENTS:

Monday, November 16, 12 Noon. Launch of THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A WRITING JOURNAL.  A virtual event.  Click on the following for further information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1024707661275889/

 WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To read more about winter, see my book: The Quiet Season (Wisconsin Historical Society Press).  To purchase a copy of The Quiet Season and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

Snowy Winter.  Photo by Jerry Apps

As we move ever closer to winter, my memories return to my early life on the farm.  As I think back, nearly everything we did during the other three seasons of the year was to prepare for winter.  The crops we planted in spring—oats, corn, potatoes—we harvested in summer and fall, and stored them for the farm animals to eat in winter.

The hayloft in the barn was piled to the roof with hay that we had cut in late June and July, waiting for winter when it would help feed our small herd of hungry milk cows.

The huge garden that my mother managed, with vegetables of every kind, along with such fruits as strawberries and raspberries by late fall were lined up in jars on shelves in the cellar.  Waiting for winter.

The enormous woodpile just west of the house stood waiting for winter, when it would help warm our farmhouse.  In November, we piled straw around the outside of the house, as a way to keep out the winter drafts.

As I think back, I realize that winter, in large measure, defined who we were as people.  We learned the importance of planning for the future—winter, which always arrived, ready or not.  We didn’t despise winter as it did provide some time for winter activities such as skiing, sledding, and ice skating.  But the better we planned for it, the more we could enjoy what I have called “The quiet season.”

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: We who live in the north are largely defined by winter.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Monday, November 16, 12 Noon. Launch of THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A WRITING JOURNAL.  A virtual event.  Click on the following for further information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1024707661275889/

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To read more about winter, see my book: The Quiet Season (Wisconsin Historical Society Press).  To purchase copies of The Quiet Season and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore,  order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

Splitting Wood

 

Son, Jeff, showing how to split wood.  Photo by Jerry Apps

When I was a kid, with the fall harvest about completed, the granary bins full, the silo filled, and the corn cribs bursting with cob corn, it was time to take up an annual fall task—making wood. 

  In our farmhouse, we had two wood-burning stoves—a kitchen cookstove, and a Round Oak Heater in the dining room.  Another stove in the pump house kept the pump and the milk cooling tank from freezing. A wood stove in the potato cellar kept our potato crop from freezing.

On a cool November Saturday, when the barn chores were done, my dad and I, and sometimes with my younger twin brothers. we were off to the woodlot near the house.  An ax and a crosscut saw were our only implements.  No fancy gasoline chain saws.

With our trusty team and bobsled, assuming snow on the ground, we hauled the cut branches and logs to a huge pile near our house, waiting for the day when we had a wood sawing bee where the neighbors helped us cut the logs into blocks.

 Our next task was splitting the blocks into woodstove size.  A task that required both brawn and brains.  Enough strength to wield a splitting mall, and enough brains to be able to read the wood, as Pa would say.  By that he meant, studying a block before swinging the mall, and deciding the direction of the wood grain, and detecting knots that would make the splitting more difficult. After several hours of splitting, we had a respectable woodpile.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Learn to read a block of wood, the same skill applies when meeting a  person for the first time.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Book Bites, Wednesday, November 4, 7:00 PM.  Go to Wisconsin Historical Society Press Facebook for a live presentation. “When the White Pine Was King.”

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My newest books are WHEN THE WHITE PINE WAS KING, CHEESE THE MAKING OF A WISCONSIN TRADITION (2^nd Edition), and THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  A WRITING JOURNAL.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. 

The Old Maple Tree is Now a Memory

 

The clean-up crew, left to right-Steve, Sue, Paul. My brother Don in front. Photo by Jerry Apps/

In 1912, the Coombes family, who owned Roshara before us, built new farm buildings across the township road from where they were originally.  They planted a windbreak of black willow trees and at the north end of the windbreak, they planted a maple tree.

When we bought the farm in 1966, the maple tree was more than 50 years old, and a nice shade tree.  The tree had four trunks, each growing from ground level from the same root system.  As the years passed, one of the trunks grew considerably larger than the other three.  By 2020, this trunk was probably 30 inches in diameter and eighty or more feet tall.  But rather than grow straight up, each year it grew a bit more at an angle.

To make matters worse, it was leaning over one of my machine sheds.  My brother Darrel, each time he visited me at the farm said, “Jerry, that old maple is gonna fall on your shed.  And no telling how much damage it will do.”

Darrel was right.  It was only a matter of time—a stiff wind, an ice storm, and down it would go.  So, I hired Gabe’s, a tree company from Wild Rose to cut it down, all four trunks.

On a cool Saturday, my clean up crew hauled away the brush and began piling the blocks, which we will split for firewood.  It was a sad and happy day.  Sad, because my family spent many hours in the shade of that big old maple.  Happy—my machine shed is spared.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A shade tree can be like an old friend.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My newest books are WHEN THE WHITE PINE WAS KING: A HISTORY OF LUMBERJACKS, LOG DRIVES, AND SAWDUST CITIES IN WISCONSIN. CHEESE THE MAKING OF A WISCONSIN TRADITION (2^nd Edition), and THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A WRITING JOURNAL.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.

 

Big Bluestem Has a Story to Tell

 

Big Bluestem grass at Roshara.  Photo by Jerry Apps

When the pioneers arrived in central and southwestern Wisconsin, many of them were greeted by vast acreages of Big Bluestem grass.  It would often grow over six feet tall and wave in the wind creating a sight similar to waves on the ocean.  Indeed, the first pioneers, who arrived in the Midwest with covered wagons pulled by teams of oxen, called their wagons prairie schooners, after the sailing vessels that plied the oceans.

Big Bluestem (Andropagon gerardii) is a native perennial grass.  It is leafy at its base, with a few leaves along its stem.  The seed heads form into three spikelets, which gives the grass its popular name, “turkey foot.”

When Thomas Stewart homesteaded my Roshara farm in 1867, he was greeted by Big Bluestem waving in the wind.  I have read stories of how he hired a neighbor, with a team of oxen and a huge breaking plow to turn under this tall growing grass, which had a root system nearly as deep as the grass grew above ground.

On steep hillsides that Stewart could not plow, the Big Bluestem continued to grow—to this day.  It is also slowly expanding in the prairie we are restoring at Roshara.  Because of its vast root system, it will grow on sandy soils, and also because of its deep roots, it is not much bothered by dry weather, something that is fairly common in our part of Waushara County.

As it grows in spring and summer, it has a blueish stem. In fall the stems turn a reddish brown.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Big Bluestem, a plant with a story to tell.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My newest books are WHEN THE WHITE PINE WAS KING: A HISTORY OF LUMBERJACKS, LOG DRIVES, AND SAWDUST CITIES IN WISCONSIN. CHEESE THE MAKING OF A WISCONSIN TRADITION (2^nd Edition), and THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A WRITING JOURNAL.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

Putting the Garden to Bed

 

Steve sowing winter rye on the garden.  Photo by Jerry Apps

Putting our garden to bed is an annual event that we have followed for more than fifty years at Roshara.  It involves several steps, followed carefully each fall, usually in early October.

The first step is to remove the electric fence, with its skinny steel posts and two wires that surround the garden from the time of planting to autumn, when the garden season ends.  The electric wires, the first one about four feet above the ground, the second one about a foot off the ground successfully keep out the deer and wild turkeys.  But not the rabbits.  This year, for the first time ever, we had a problem with rabbits chewing on our broccoli and cabbage plants.  Somehow, they missed the beans.

Next, we remove all the vines from the pumpkins, squash, and gourds along with the tomato and potato vines.  These are taken a distance away from the garden, as they often contain diseases. especially blight.

These days, my son, Steve does most of this work. I mostly watch.  He cuts the sweet corn stalks into little pieces, which he leaves on the ground.  He also leaves the grass-mulching materials that surrounded the tomato, cabbage, and broccoli plants.  With the rototiller, he works the garden, burying the mulching material and corn stalks.

Finally, he sows winter rye over the entire garden, providing a cover crop for the winter. Once sowed, he works in the seeds with the rototiller. Next spring he’ll work the green rye into the soil, adding more organic material to our sandy Waushara County soil.

Another job finished for the season.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: We know that fall is  here when the garden is put to bed.

COMING EVENTS:

Thursday, October 15, 11:00 a.m. (Virtual) Fox Cities Book Festival. When the White Pine was King.  Click on the following to sign up. https://foxcitiesbookfestival.org/authors/jerry-apps-2/

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My newest books are WHEN THE WHITE PINE WAS KING: A HISTORY OF LUMBERJACKS, LOG DRIVES, AND SAWDUST CITIES IN WISCONSIN and CHEESE THE MAKING OF A WISCONSIN TRADITION (2^nd Edition).

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

Memories of October

 

The beauty of fall.  Photo by Jerry Apps

October brings back many memories for this old farm boy.  It is the month when we dug potatoes on the home farm. We usually grew about 20 acres each year, as did most of our neighbors. Planted by hand, cultivated with a one-horse cultivator, hoed by hand, dug with a six-tine fork, and picked by hand.  Our one-room country school had two weeks of “potato vacation,” when the kids in the neighborhood were home picking potatoes. Some vacation.  Different from some of my fellow students, I was paid for picking potatoes.  One penny a bushel.  Some days I might pick a hundred bushels and earn a dollar.  But that was rare.

October was also the month for cutting corn, the ears headed for the slated corn crib where they would dry. Our trusty team of draft horses pulled a one-row corn binder that cut the corn, and formed it into bundles that spilled out on the ground.   We stood the bundles into corn shocks that marched across the cornfield like teepees. In a couple weeks, similar to oat threshing season, a corn shredder arrived at the farm.  The neighbors came to help.  The corn shocks were taken down, hauled to the farmstead and shoved into the corn shredder, which separated the ears from the corn stalks, and sliced up the stalks.  The corn stalks were used as bedding for our dairy cows during the winter. The ears, stored in the corn crib, were feed for cows..

With all the work going on, we still took time to look at the beauty of the trees in fall.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take time to enjoy October’s beauty.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My newest books are WHEN THE WHITE PINE WAS KING: A HISTORY OF LUMBERJACKS, LOG DRIVES, AND SAWDUST CITIES IN WISCONSIN and CHEESE THE MAKING OF A WISCONSIN TRADITION (2^nd Edition).

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

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Sturdy Rose

 

Sturdy Rose.  Photo by Jerry Apps

During these days of uncertainly, despair, and disappointment, it is often the little things, the simple things that can cheer us up.  A baby’s smile, a puppy’s wagging tail, a playful kitten, an autumn sunset, the smile in the eyes of a friend who is wearing a mask, the smell of freshly baked bread.  And for me, an old rose bush that stands at the corner of our cabin.

I planted the rose bush 50 years ago; it must have a name but I don’t remember what it is.  Each year it grows a bit taller and a bit wider.  It begins blooming in early spring, and continues blooming all summer long—it is still blooming now as we move into fall.  It will continue blooming until a hard freeze when it drops its leaves and rests until spring arrives.

Besides its many cheering blooms, the rose bush requires no care.  No watering, no fertilizing, nothing at all. The deer don’t bother it. It grows and blooms during dry spells and rainy periods.  It is buried in snow during the winter. It asks for nothing and gives much.

My farm is located in the township of Rose, in Waushara County—perhaps this is one of the reasons that my old rose bush continues to do so well.  This is its home; this is where it is supposed to be.  And for me, just looking at it makes me feel better.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: It is often the little things, the simple things that can cheer us up.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sunday, September 27, 1:00 p.m. Central Wisconsin Book Festival, Virtual event.  Go to https://www.mcpl.us/cwbf for further information. Discussion of When the White Pine was King.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

 

Autumn beauty.  Photo by Jerry Apps

With autumn here, we can look back at a most forgettable summer.  Who would have thought that so many events would be canceled, almost all county fairs, the state fair, festivals of every kind—all canceled?  Baseball and football games played without an audience.  Schools opening and then closing.  Many schools not opening for face-to-face, but teaching via computers.  Universities trying to open with face-to-face classes, and then closing as virus cases spike.

Many of us are learning new ways of doing things—social distancing, virtual learning, Zoom meetings, live Facebook presentations, wearing a mask wherever we go, staying away from large groups, working at home.  Just the other day, while grocery shopping, the checkout person looked at this mask-wearing old guy and said, “Is that you Jerry, behind that mask?” 

            “Yup, that’s me,” I replied as we exchanged pleasantries.

The summer has not been all bad.  The number of people with vegetable gardens has increased dramatically.  Families, especially those with children who were going here and there for summer activities, have become reacquainted with each other.  More of us ate home-cooked meals as restaurants closed and/ or cut back.  Large numbers of people enjoyed the county parks, state’s parks and recreation areas—hiking, camping, and taking time to enjoy nature.

 With the arrival of autumn—my favorite season of the year—we can look forward to cooler days, the beauty of trees turning many colors, and the final harvests of the year.  We

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can put the summer of 2020 into our bank of memories—trying to remember what was good, and leaving behind the many heartaches and disappointments that we all experienced.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: What a summer. More downs than ups.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Saturday, September 19, 1:30, Virtual Event, “Farm Stories,” Columbus Library. Click on the following for further information: https://www.columbuspubliclibrary.info/jerry-apps-live-virtual-event

Wednesday, September 23, 11:00 – 12:30, The Larry Meiller Show, Wisconsin Public Radio. Discussion of my book, When the White Pine was King.

Sunday, September 27, 1:00 p.m. Central Wisconsin Book Festival, Virtual event.  Go to https://www.mcpl.us/cwbf for further information. Discussion of When the White Pine was King.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

 

Daughter, Sue showing off a winter squash. Photo by Jerry Apps

Here is my Labor Day garden report with several changes since I shared my July Fourth report.  The most disappointing event was with my Kennebec white potatoes.  I gave them a grade of B in July.  Now I must give them an F.  In early August a blight attacked them and killed the plants. In my more than 50 years of gardening, this has never happened.  My red potatoes did not suffer from the blight near as much and they offered a fair yield.  A grade of A- to them.

As is true of every year of gardening, some vegetables do very well, some fail.  That is so true this strange year.  A grade of A goes to lettuce, (still cutting lettuce), kale, beets, carrots (best crop in years), string beans, and zucchini (never had a bad year with zucchini.)  

Those vegetables receiving an F, besides the Kennebec potatoes include radishes (not one), rutabagas (runty and wormy), and broccoli (never recovered from an early rabbit attack). I thought I had an agreement with the “Head rabbit” to stay out of my garden, but he said his extended family was hungry, what with the dry spell we had.

Grades for the other vegetables at summer’s end: Cabbage-C, Sweet corn-D, Kohlrabi-B. Cucumbers-B, Tomatoes-B, Winter squash-B (first year in three that we’d had any), Peas-C, and Pumpkins-C.

A rather average year when all is said and done.  My major disappointments were my Kennebec potatoes and my sweet corn.  I really like sweet corn; as does the rest of the family. I doubt we got a dozen ears.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Every gardening year is different; what will next year bring?

.UPCOMING EVENTS:

Saturday, September 19, 1:30, Virtual Event, “Farm Stories,” Columbus Library. Click on the following for further information: https://www.columbuspubliclibrary.info/jerry-apps-live-virtual-event

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

A Cactus Surprise

 

Prickly Pear cactus.  Photo by Jerry Apps.

A few years ago my neighbor gave me this little cactus.  She called it a Prickly Pear.  It surely was prickly, but it bore no resemblance to a pear.

“What do I do with it,” I asked. 

“Just set it out,” she said, “Most anyplace outside, it likes lots of sun.”

I shook my head in disbelief. What I knew about a cactus was next to nothing.  I had seen them growing in Arizona where I visited a few times, but this little cactus didn’t look like it would grow several feet tall, as some grew in that state. (What I saw in Arizona was a Saguaro cactus.)

I planted the little cactus in a little sandy spot on the southeast corner of my cabin, where I knew it would get lots of sun.  I figured I’d enjoy it one summer, and then the winter cold and snow would do it in.

But how surprised I was.  Now, several years later, not only has the little cactus survived, it has thrived.  It survived winters when the temperature dipped well below zero.  It survived deep snow. And the deer and rabbits won’t touch it—need I say it has long, sharp spikes that cover its little green palm-like structures. The deer have mowed down my daylilies and gobbled up my hostas, but the little cactus sits by itself, showing off its very attractive little yellow flowers.  It is a true survivor.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: In this crazy world, we all need some positive surprises.

.UPCOMING EVENTS:

Saturday, September 19, 1:30, Virtual Event, “Farm Stories,” Columbus Library. Click on the following for further information: https://www.columbuspubliclibrary.info/jerry-apps-live-virtual-event

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

Nothing Better Than Home Grown Vegetables

 

Homemade tomato soup.  Photo by Jerry Apps        

With so much turmoil this year, mostly caused by the COVID virus, many people have turned to home gardening.  Now,  the sweet corn is ready, the cucumbers are just right, the green beans can’t be bested, and the tomatoes are ready for picking and eating.  After several months of store-bought tomatoes grown at some far-distant place, we have fresh tomatoes, picked ripe from our garden.  How juicy they are and how special. 

 I especially enjoy spooning some cottage cheese into a bowl and then topping it with several slices of fresh tomato.  Or sometimes, I slice a couple tomatoes onto a plate, add a goodly amount of pepper and a little salt, and dig in. 

 My wife makes the best tomato juice you could imagine, not heavily laced with salt which is too often the case with store-bought tomato juice.  She cans it in pint jars and at days end, I often bring up a jar from the basement, pour it into a pint water glass—and sit back and enjoy.

 But what is most special of all, is the tomato soup that Ruth makes, many pints that we enjoy all seasons of the year, but especially during the cold, snowy days of winter.  Opening a can of home-made tomato soup is like a taste of summer when there is snow on the ground and the temperature crowds toward zero.  For the recipe, fetch a copy of my book Garden Wisdom from your local library or bookstore, and give the tomato soup recipe a try.  You won’t be disappointed.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Homegrown vegetables, what could be better?

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore, online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

 

A Walk in the Woods

 

A Walk in the Woods.  Photo by Jerry Apps

As long as I can remember, when things were going bad for me, I felt better after a walk in the woods.  On the home farm, we had twenty acres of woods just north of the farmhouse.  My brothers and I grew up in that woods made up mostly of oak trees.  When something bad happened, a favorite animal died, something I’d hoped for vanished, I would go out in the woods. 

We all faced a host of disappointments and tragedies during the trying years of the Great Depression and the challenges of World War II.  During those times I’d find solace in the woods. For me, it was a safe place to be. A place where I could find myself.

The trees would listen to me—and they didn’t talk back. I enjoyed the sound of the wind rustling the tree leaves on a hot day in summer, and the different sound the winter wind made as it moved through the bare tree branches.  On days when the wind didn’t blow, the woods were a quiet, peaceful place.  As I grew older, the woods continued to be one of my favorite places to visit-during good times and bad.

The farm my family and I now own is mostly trees, with many walking trails.  What a soothing pleasure it is, during these times of chaos and change, to spend time in the woods.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Take a walk in the woods. You will feel better if you do.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

My books are available at your local bookstore or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and look at their great selection of my books or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.