Lost a Long-time Friend Jerry Apps Photo

  

LOST A LONG-TIME FRIEND         Jerry Apps photo.

I lost a long-time friend a few weeks ago—David  Kolka.  He was 85.  One of those “salt of the earth” persons as we used to call them when I was growing up on the farm. .  The Kolka farm was about a mile west of our farm, across the road from my Grandfather Bill Witt’s place.  Dave was a couple years younger than me.  He along with his brother Jim, six months younger than me, were the first kids my younger brothers and I got to know.  I’ve known the Kolka boys for more than 80 years, since we all were little guys and figuring out what having a friend was all about.

The Kolka boys, my brothers and I attended the Chain O’ Lake one-room country school.  We played softball together; we performed in Christmas programs together.  We helped each other with our school work.

When we got old enough, we hunted squirrels together on cool fall, Sunday afternoons.  We hunted deer together and went ice fishing together.  Dave and Jim were our best friends.

Dave was quiet, never said a lot, but when he said something, you’d best listen, because he usually had something to say. Society was—still is--filled with talkers.  But many of them have little to say.

In fall 1955, when I was waiting to go into the army, and my brother Donald was waiting to go to barber school, Dave, Jim, Don and I raked cranberries by hand in a cranberry marsh near Wisconsin Rapids.  It was a cold, wet, miserable, back-breaking job.  Did Dave Kolka complain—nope.  The rest of us did.  But not Dave.  He was one of the best cranberry rakers in the bog.

My two brothers and I, along with Dave’s brother, Jim, all left the farm.  Dave stayed on the farm where he had grown up, and farmed until he retired.  He was a supervisor for the Town of Rose, and for many years served on the Waushara County Board.  Dave is survived by Lois, his wife of 57 years, two daughters and a son, his brother Jim plus several grandchildren.

I will miss him.  He was a great guy.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: It’s hard to lose an old friend.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS

  Buy from your local bookstore, or buy online from the Wisconsin Historical Society bookstore, https://shop.wisconsinhistory.org/books, bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They also have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

TELL ME A STORY Photo by Jerry Apps

 

Those who know me are well aware of my love for stories.  I grew up hearing them.  My dad was a first-rate storyteller, so were several of our farm neighbors.  Beyond the great meals, as the neighbors gathered for threshing, silo filling, corn shredding and wood sawing, were the stories.  Told after the meals.  Told during the breaks in work. Driving by a field of shocked oats triggers for me stories about threshing days.  Corn shocks remind me of corn shredding crews.

Stories are important, well beyond their entertainment value. Stories help us recall the past while opening a window to the future.  Stories tie us to our past and at the same time provide a platform for facing the future. By telling our stories, we are coming out from behind ourselves and letting other people know a little more about who we are.

The pictures formed in our minds when we hear a story are often far better than those we see in movies or on television.  As a kid, I listened to radio programs: The Lone Ranger, Terry and the Pirates, Captain Midnight, Jack Armstrong and others.  The stories tapped into my imagination. I lived the stories right along with the radio actors who were telling them.  I saw the pictures in my mind as clearly as if they were printed on paper.

A story is more than words.   A story can evoke feelings in people they have thought long forgotten, bringing tears and laughter, sometimes in the same paragraph.  Our stories make us different from one another yet tie us all together.

Storytelling can change us forever.  Our stories can help us discover meaning in our lives without defining or describing it. Stories ground us, give us pleasure, and provide a sense of purpose in our lives.  Stories help make us human.  When we forget our stories, we forget who we are.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Tell me a story.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS

  Buy from your local bookstore, or buy online from the Wisconsin Historical Society bookstore, https://shop.wisconsinhistory.org/books, bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They also have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

Potatoes, A Favorite Food Steve Apps Photo

It’s potato harvesting time.  Since 1967, when we began vegetable gardening at Roshara, potatoes have remained one of our main crops.  Maybe it’s because the words of my father remain in my head—a meal is not complete unless it includes potatoes.  Thus, as a kid, I remember fried potatoes for breakfast, boiled potatoes for dinner, and boiled potatoes for supper, at least six days of the week.  We often had pancakes for breakfast on Sunday, as a special treat, but back to potatoes for dinner and supper.  Another treat was baked potatoes, which we had when relatives came for dinner or supper, and especially if it was a holiday such as Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Potatoes have been an important food in the world for thousands of years.  The Inca Indians in Peru were believed to have cultivated potatoes around 9,000 B.C.  In 1536, the Spanish invaders in Peru discovered the taste of potatoes and took them back to Europe.  In 1589, Sr. Walter Raleigh is believed to have introduced potatoes to Ireland.   It wasn’t until the 1620s that potatoes made their way from Europe to the United States.  Irish immigrants to the U.S. also brought potatoes with them.  According to the USDA, in 2021 the top three states in potato production were Idaho, Washington and Wisconsin

Potatoes are a nutritious food; They are plant-based, cholesterol-free, sodium-free. fat-free, and gluten-free. The potato is about 80 percent water and 20 percent solids.  An eight-ounce baked or boiled potato contains only 100 calories. They also are an excellent source of fiber and they contain antioxidants that help to prevent diseases.

The potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space—the year was 1995. NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers created the technology.  The goal was to provide a way of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and perhaps feed future space colonies.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Listen to your dad.  Potatoes are good for you.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS

  Buy from your local bookstore, or buy online from the Wisconsin Historical Society bookstore, https://shop.wisconsinhistory.org/books, bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They also have a large selection of my books.  

 

 

Many will remember this poem, “September,” written by Helen Hunt Jackson in 1892.  It was one of several poems we learned when I was a student in a one-room country school many years ago.  The first lines are:

            “The golden-rod is yellow;

            The corn is turning brown;

            The trees in apple orchards

            With fruit are bending down.”

The goldenrods great claim to fame—it announces the coming of autumn with the happiness of beautiful yellow flowers.

There are more than a hundred species of goldenrod, which is native to North America.  It will grow almost everywhere, but it seems to like infertile, sandy soil the best—the kind of soil we have at Roshara. It also likes lots of sunshine.  It can grow up to five feet tall, and this time of year, it has an abundance of beautiful yellow flowers.  We have solid patches of goldenrod in our prairie at Roshara.  Its flowers attract an assortment of bees, and butterflies, which help the pollination of the goldenrod.

Historically, goldenrods had many uses beyond reminding us that summer was about to leave.  Honey bees make tasty dark-colored honey from its nectar.  It has been used to heal wounds and to cure a variety of other health problems such as indigestion and diabetes. The dried flowers can be used to make tea.  A little-known fact, Thomas Edison used the milky juice of goldenrods to make tires for Henry Ford’s Model T Ford car.  Native Americans used goldenrod leaves for toothache and other health problems.

A prevalent myth—goldenrod flowers cause “hay fever” type allergies. 

Not so. Its pollen is a type that doesn’t fly through the air and attack our respiratory systems.  Ragweed is usually the culprit in autumn.  Ragweed pollen flies on the wind.

Enjoy the beauty of goldenrods, a time to recall the many memories of summer just passing and the beautiful autumn to come.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Goldenrods, nature’s paint brush at work once more.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS

  Buy from your local bookstore, or buy online from the Wisconsin Historical Society bookstore, https://shop.wisconsinhistory.org/books, bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They also have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

What I Learned About Growing Zucchini Steve Apps Photo.

 

I don’t remember that my folks ever grew zucchini squash in their garden.  They grew lots of other squash—winter squash such as Hubbard and Acorn, but no summer squash, I’m sure the idea of summer squash made little sense to them.  They had lots of fresh summer vegetables from our big garden—lettuce, carrots, peas, green beans, and sweet corn.

When I first began gardening at Roshara in 1967, I decided to plant some Zucchini.  Several of my friends said I should, that zucchini was the new popular vegetable to grow. I planted a long row of zucchini, alongside a row of butternut winter squash. The first important thing I learned about growing zucchini—plant only two or three hills, not a long row.

The second thing I learned, pick the zucchini before it is four feet long, which is the length it grew in my Roshara garden.  Needless to say, with the long row, and the huge zucchinis crowding out the butternut squash, I had enough zucchini to feed the neighborhood.

The third thing I learned—check with your spouse about what to do with zucchini before you plant the seeds.  I didn’t and when Ruth asked what she should do with our bountiful harvest, I suggested removing the seeds and baking it.  That’s what we did with our winter squash.  That is not what you do with summer squash. You don’t prepare zucchini that way.

The fourth thing I learned; it is easy to grow zucchini.  A gardening friend said, “If you can’t grow zucchini, you’d best turn your efforts to doing something other than vegetable gardening.”

We continue to grow zucchini.  Ruth has a zucchini bread recipe that is just the best—the grandkids will eat it before they eat cookies.  We have three hills of zucchini in our garden—no more long rows.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Plant some zucchini.  You’ll be surprised at what happens.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS

See my book, GARDEN WISDOM.  Buy from your local bookstore, or buy online from the Wisconsin Historical Society bookstore, https://shop.wisconsinhistory.org/books, bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They also have a large selection of my books.