Spring Garden Report      Natasha mulching tomatoes.  Steve Apps Photo

 

As of this past weekend, the remainder of the Apps vegetable garden at Roshara is planted.  Daughter-in-law Natasha and son, Steve, are now the garden managers.  I have been relegated to senior consultant.  I have a suspicion it means staying out of the way.

 

Following a practice we began many years ago, we make a map of our garden each year, and try to avoid planting anything in the same space as it was the previous year.  Also following a long-term practice, we mulch all the tomato plants as well as the cabbage, and broccoli plants. 

 

Last year we had a severe rabbit problem.  This year Steve added a third wire to our electric fence that surrounds the garden.  This third wire is but a few inches off the ground.  We’ll soon learn if it works.  If it doesn’t, we’ll have to install some woven wire around the rabbit loving plants.

 

We have planted a vegetable garden at Roshara, sometimes as large as a half-acre, since 1967.  Each year is different, some plants do better than expected.  Some don’t do well at all.

 

Here is what the team planted this year, row by row.

 

Sweet Corn -- short row

Sweet Corn

Sweet Corn

Sweet Corn

Skip a row

Zucchini / Cucumbers

Skip a row

Peas

Red potatoes

Kennebec White potatoes

Kennebec White potatoes

Onions (half row white and half row red)

Lettuce/Kale/Carrots and Radishes/Beets/Radish

Entry to garden -- walkway

Broccoli (8 plants) / Cabbage (6) / Pole beans

Bush bean / Pole bean

WI 55 Tomato (12) / Purple beans

Celebrity Tomato (2) / Early Girl (3) / Steak Tomatoes (3) / Purple beans

Magic Mountain Tomato (8)

Better Boy Tomatoes (11)

Better Boy Tomatoes (8)

Skip row

Squash - winter varieties

Skip row

Squash - winter varieties

Skip row

Pumpkins

Skip row

Gourds

Skip row

Flowers

Flowers -- variety / sunflowers

Flowers -- sunflowers

Flowers -- sunflowers and honey bee attracting flowers.

My dad always said, “Every vegetable garden should include some flowers.”

 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Plant a garden.  You’ll enjoy fresh vegetables, and be surprised at what happens.                                                                                                                                 

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

 Learn more about gardening by reading my book, GARDEN WISDOM. You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from bookshop.org, Amazon.com, 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 Library500 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

Remembering Early Potato Growing in Wisconsin

 

By the 1870s, many Wisconsin farmers turned to dairy farming and other crops (wheat growing was failing).   In central Wisconsin, in addition to milking cows, many farmers began growing potatoes.  According to the USDA Ag. Statistics Service, Wisconsin farmers grew 64,304 acres of potatoes in 1870.   That number exploded to 325,000 acres in 1922.

 

We grew potatoes on the home farm, 20 acres of them every year.  We planted them by hand, hoed them by hand, dug them by hand (with six tine-forks) and picked them by hand.  Our country school had a two-week potato vacation in October so all the kids could stay home and pick potatoes. 

 

Besides the potato bins in our farm house cellar, we stored them in a potato cellar built into the side of a hill just beyond the chicken house.  Every farmer had a potato cellar where the potatoes were stored in the lower part of the building and various farm machinery was stored in the upper area.  Potato prices were usually better in the late winter and early spring, thus the reason for storing them.  We kept a wood burning stove going all winter in the potato cellar to keep the potatoes from freezing.

 

Potato warehouses (with potato buyers) lined the railroad tracks of Wild Rose in those days.  In late winter, we spent many evenings after the barn chores were done, by the light of a barn lantern, sorting and dumping potatoes into gunny bags.  Pa hauled them to Wild Rose with a bobsled pulled by our trusty team. He selected a warmer winter day to haul the potatoes so they wouldn’t freeze on the four and half mile trip to the village.

 

Travelers in central Wisconsin can easily spot these little potato cellars as many of them remain standing. These little buildings have many stories to tell.

 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Wisconsin still grows lots of potatoes, third in the nation among all the states. Idaho and Washington State rank number one and two.

                                                                                                                                          

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

 Learn more about Wisconsin potato growing by reading my book, WISCONSIN AGRICULTURE: A HISTORY. You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from bookshop.org, Amazon.com,  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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

May Basket Memories

 

One of the fun things we farm kids did during the month of May was to make little paper baskets at our country school and then play “May Baskets.” It was game where a couple of us kids, unannounced to the rest of neighborhood, would fill our little paper May Baskets with flowers.  Anything we could find, violets, apple blossoms, even dandelions.

 

Then in the dark of night, we would begin visiting the neighbor farms with kids.  We’d hang a May Basket on their kitchen door, yell “May Basket” and then run like the dickens.  The kids at the place where we hung the May Basket, would run after us, eventually catching us and joining us as we walked to the next farm.  The farms were a half mile apart, so before the night was over, we would have walked several miles.  But what fun it was on a warm May night, with all the sounds and smells of spring hanging in the warm air.   It was a way to share the spring spirit with our neighbors.

 

Our biggest challenge, as we walked from farm to farm, was dealing with the farm dogs.  Some were friendly, but a few of them would just as soon tear your pants off and chew you on the ankle as allow you to pet them.  I knew the names of most of the farm dogs, and tried to calm them as we hung a May basket on their master’s kitchen door.  Afterall, one of the dog’s jobs was to prevent the very thing that we were doing.  Sneaking up to the kitchen door in the dead of night. I don’t remember any serious dog confrontations, but a farm dog could never be ignored.

 

The May Basket tradition goes back as far as the 12^th and 13^th centuries In Germany.  Some believe the ancient Romans practiced the tradition.  Flowers have long been a symbol of the coming of spring, and thus should be celebrated.

 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sharing flowers is one way to celebrate the coming of spring.

 

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

. You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from bookshop.org, Amazon.com,  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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

A Tonic for Spring Susan Apps-Bodilly Photo.

When I was a kid the first thing to pop out of the ground after the snow disappeared and frost left the ground was rhubarb.   It’s tough stuff.  I don’t remember it ever not coming up.

I grew up liking most everything on my plate.  But there was and continues to be an exception: rhubarb sauce.  That stuff was awful.  Pa insisted we eat it.  He said it was necessary to cleanse our body from winter and be prepared for spring. Ma’s recipe was simple:

                        3-4 cups chopped rhubarb

                        1 cup sugar

                        1/3 cup of water.

Put rhubarb pieces in a medium cooking pot, add sugar and a bit of water.  Start with medium heat, and then reduce to let it simmer as soon as it begins to bubble and boil.  Let simmer until the rhubarb cooks down, which should take about 25 minutes.  Let cool and keep in refrigerator.

            Curious as I am about these things, I begin wondering if my dad was onto something with his insistence that eating rhubarb sauce was a way to prepare our bodies for spring.   Five thousand years ago, dried Rhubarb roots were considered a medicine by the Chinese.

 It is a mild laxative.  But on the plus side, rhubarb is a good source of dietary fiber, has lots of vitamin C and K, plus calcium and potassium.  And as much as I detest rhubarb sauce, rhubarb crisp ranks right up there with apple crisp. And don’t forget about strawberry-rhubarb pie, rhubarb muffins, and rhubarb cake. But don’t eat the leaves as they are poisonous and can cause breathing difficulty and burning in the mouth.  Rhubarb leaves are not poisonous to the touch.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Eat your rhubarb sauce.  It’s good for you.

            .

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To learn more about rhubarb, go to my daughter and my book, OLD FARM COUNTRY COOKBOOK. You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from 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

 

Remembering Mother’s Day         

Mother’s Day, 2^nd Sunday in May, brings back many memories for this aging farm boy.  Back in the later years of the Great Depression, my twin brothers and I had no money for fancy cards or any kind of Mother’s Day Present.  I ‘d obviously heard that Mother’s Day was coming, because we’d made homemade cards at our country school.

I think it was Pa who suggested that we might pick some violets for our mother for Mother’s Day.  On the far north edge of the woodlot, back of the house, was an open hilltop, where beautiful violets grew.  I was but a little shaver, and my brothers were smaller still, but we found our way to the edge of the big woods and picked a nice big bouquet of violets.

When we arrived home, and stumbled into the kitchen with our special present, Ma was more than a little surprised.  I noticed she had tears in  her eyes and I wondered why she was crying as she found a little jar, filled it water and  put our violets  in it.   Together we said, “Happy Mother’s Day.”

            “Thank you, thank you,” she said. “What a wonderful Mother’s Day present.”

President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day a national holiday on May 9, 1914, and that it  should be celebrated the second Sunday of May each year.  But Mother’s Day goes back a long way before 1914. After the Civil War, a group of mothers began working to organize a Mother’s Friendship Day, as a way to bring the Union and the Confederacy once more together. Other groups of mothers in the late 1800s saw Mother’s Day as a way to organize and promote world peace.

Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated in some 50 countries of the world.  I read somewhere that more Mother’s Day cards are purchased than for any celebration.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Call your mother and wish her the best on her special day. You might give her some flowers as well.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

Grow Your Own Grape Vine

 

Spring has been so, so slow in coming this year, with winter sticking around for a brief look nearly every week of this April, which is supposed to be a spring month.

One thing I remembered every spring for the 50 years I’ve had it, is to prune my Concord Grape vine that snakes around the split rail fence in front of my house.  The main vine is about the size of my wrist, and had I not severely pruned it every year, I have no idea how long the vines—there are several off shoots from the mother vine—would be.

Early on, someone showed me how to prune grapes.  To the passerby, once I’ve finished pruning, it appears that I have killed the vine.  Not so.  Severe pruning wakes it up and causes it send forth new growth, more each year with a new crop of grapes.

I’ve taught my son-in-law, Paul, how to do the pruning, which he did for me this year.  As he was pruning, he said “I’ve heard that it’s possible to grow a new vine from these cuttings.”

            “Yup, I’ve heard that too,” I said.  “Want to try it?”  Here is how he described what he did:

“Several of the new growth vines that I removed from your grapevine, I cut the vine so there were at least several growth nodes on each piece.   I bundled the cut vines together and placed then in an old plastic milk jug filled with peat moss. After watering. I placed them in the shade. I expect to see roots and buds in four weeks”

I did some further reading and learned that starting grape vines from cuttings requires patience.  It may take three years before the new vine will produce grapes. Concord grapes make just the best grape jelly.  What’s three years to wait for such a treat?

The Old Timer Says: Want to try something new?  How about starting a grape vine from a cutting?

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

Remembering Arbor Day

 

April is the month for Arbor Day.  What I remember about Arbor Day was how special the day was at the Chain O’ Lake one-room country school that I attended for eight years.  Arbor Day, originally devoted to tree planting, meant outdoor clean up day at our school.  On a day in late April, we raked the lawn, picked up the downed tree branches and generally cleaned up the about an acre of land that was our schoolyard.

When the raking was finished, with our teacher, we walked the half mile or so to the lake after which our school was named.  We walked all the way around the lake, looking for frogs, wild ducks, maybe a Canada goose, but mostly enjoying walking by the lake with all of its special smells and sights.  It was a memorable introduction to spring.

When we got back to the school, the teacher started a bonfire with the dead leaves we had raked, and we roasted marshmallows.  What a wonderful afternoon it was.

Arbor Day has an interesting history, tracing back to Nebraska in 1872.  At the time there were few trees in Nebraska and settlers arriving from the East and Midwest longed for trees. A newspaper editor, J. Sterling Morton was a advocate for tree planting.  He became secretary for the Nebraska Territory and proposed a tree planting day he called Arbor Day for April 10, 1874.  Arbor day, tree planting, became a prominent tradition for schools.

Today, Arbor Day is celebrated in all 50 states—the actual date depending on the best tree planting weather.  The last Friday in April became the common date.  Nebraska City, Nebraska is the official birthplace of Arbor Day.

We didn’t plant any trees at our school on Arbor Day, but we were reminded of the importance of the day with our special celebration.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Remember Arbor Day. Plant a tree.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

Crocus--Showing Us The Way to Spring Natasha Kassulke photo

 

Crocus—Showing us the Way to Spring    Natasha Kassulke photo.

Some rain.   A little snow that covers the ground, but not enough to shovel.  A hint of sunshine and lots of thick, gray clouds.  A warm breeze, not often.  A cold wind from the north, too often.  This is spring in the north. Spring in Wisconsin. I suffer through April, not knowing what will come next, not knowing how I should prepare, if prepare at all.  I remember it similar to the many Aprils I have experienced over the years.

And then I see it, peaking through the drab brown of last fall’s leaves.  A flash of yellow—but only when the sun is shining for it apparently, like the rest of us, doesn’t care much for gloomy and dark.  I’m talking about those little yellow flowers, one of the first flowers to come out in spring.  A beautiful yellow crocus.  A brave little flower with quite a story—I looked it up.

Crocus flowers can be found in southern Europe, central China, the Middle East and Africa. There are 80 different species of crocus and they all belong to the iris family.  They will grow in forests, open areas, and in my front yard. 

And they are old.  Very old. The history of crocus flowers dates back thousands of years. Some of the earliest references to the crocus flower come from Bronze Age Greece, about 3,500 years ago as well as ancient Egypt.

For many people the crocus flower symbolizes rebirth, innocence, joy, and new-beginnings.  For me it means that yes, spring has not forgotten us living in the north.  It is on its way, led by a little yellow flower that is not afraid to peek out from beneath its blanket of leaves. Willing to appear before the tulips and daffodils.  Let’s give a round of applause to the crocus.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: The little, yellow crocus flower is a reminder that yes, spring is on its way.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Searching for Spring Steve Apps Photo

 

When I was in grade school, we all learned this little ditty: “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.”  And most of the time the ditty proved true.  But guess what, I am writing this on the last day of March and it is snowing.  Snowing hard.  Accumulating on the tree branches and grassy areas, making travel difficult.  A real bummer for those who are patiently waiting for spring.

I am one of those who is waiting. I so much enjoy standing in one of my woodlots at Roshara this time of the year and merely looking, listening, smelling—feeling for the changing of the seasons.

Here is a little something I wrote in my journal:

            Spring is a fickle season in the North.  It’s not sure if it should appear, or perhaps it’s cautious and afraid after being gone for so many months.  It peeks around the corner a bit, some days even comes out into the yard to play.  But then, like a shy child, it retreats into the shadows and winter returns yet one more time.  Spring in the South is more forward, more self-confident.  It shows its face in late February or March and stays—mostly.

Spring is my second most liked month of the seasons in the North.  Autumn comes first.  For me spring is a season of promise, of expectation, of hope.  My dad, always the optimist, often said when I had a bad day, “Tomorrow will be better.”  After a long, cold and snowy winter on the farm, his words “Everything will be better when spring rolls around.”

Spring often came in fits and starts—a warm day or two, then snow and cold, followed by another warm day. When I complained to my dad that spring seemed to never come.  His words, “It always comes.”  And he was right.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Waiting for spring sometimes requires considerable patience.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore. order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

 

Planting Tomato Seeds

 

Starting Tomatoes—An Annual Event                            Jerry Apps Photo

We were a day late.  My mother, an avid gardener, always started her tomato seeds on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. She said it was a day for recognizing green—and thus a proper day for planting tomato seeds she had saved from the previous year’s crop. She did not buy the seeds.

My daughter-in-law, Natasha and I planted our tomato seeds on March 18.  It has been an annual event for us.  For those who might be interested, we started the following varieties: Steak Sandwich Hybrid (a 10 oz tomato ready 70 days from transplanting in the garden), Big Beef Hybrid (large red, ready 73 days from transplanting), Early Girl Hybrid (medium large, ready 57 days from transplanting), Fourth of July Hybrid, (4 oz fruits ready 49 days from transplanting), Better Boy Hybrid ( large red fruit, ready 75 days from transplanting), Wisconsin 55  (large red, 75 days from transplanting), Super Sweet 100 Hybrid (a cherry tomato ready about 70 days from transplanting.

We planted 72 seeds (seven varieties)  with harvest dates ranging from 49 days (Fourth of July Hybrid) to 75 days for Better Boy Hybrid,  Our plan is to have fresh tomatoes from early July until frost in the fall.

We germinate the seeds in a germination flat.  As soon as the little plants come up, I put the flat under a grow light where they remain for several weeks. We then transplant them into little fiber pots and keep them outside where they “toughen in” before we plant them in our farm garden. We transplant the fiber pots directly into the garden soil.

I have never gotten over the fun of watching a tiny tomato seed grow into a plant that is four feet tall and taller and hangs heavy with beautiful red tomatoes.  It’s one of nature’s miracles.  I’m reminded of it all as I enjoy a bowl of Ruth’s tomato soap on a cold winter day.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Starting tomato seeds is one of the rites of spring.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore including my book, GARDEN WISDOM. order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

 

Memories of Spring Break

This is the time of the year for spring break.  When the schools and colleges shut their doors for a week so students and teachers can regroup after a long winter of classes and study.  A popular activity for college students is to trek off to a Florida beach for week of sun and fun away from the snow and cold. 

I remember so well my first year of college (1951-1952), and how I looked forward to spring break.  No going to Florida—I had neither interest nor the money to do that.  I looked forward to a week on the home farm.  I’ll fess up now—as many people who know me are aware;  My heart has always been in the country, and likely will always be.  I couldn’t wait for spring break, which in those days was mid-April.  I looked forward to hearing the meadowlarks and the mourning doves, and seeing bluebirds and robins. I couldn’t wait to smell newly turned soil, as this was the week when I crawled on our Farmall H tractor and disked and smooth dragged the fields prior to planting oats.

Today, I can still remember the cool mornings, after I helped my dad with the morning milking, ate a big breakfast, and then headed out to the shed for the tractor and a day of having the warm sun on my back while I drove up and back on the twenty-acre field that soon would be oats.   No sound of sirens, no traffic sounds.  Just the steady drone of the tractor.

After a week of “farming,” I was ready to return to the “big city” refreshed, and ready to endure several more weeks of classes and study before the semester ended, and I could return to the farm for the summer.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Once a farm boy, always a farm boy.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

 

Farm Auctions: A Sad Time.

 

The coming of spring meant the coming of farm auctions when I when I was a kid. There were many auctions as small family farms closed down, one after the other.  It was a sad time in the country.  In was also a sad time for the small villages that depended on these farms for their livelihood.

Especially after World War II, farming changed--tractors replaced horses, electricity replaced lamps and lanterns.  Get big or get out was the message of the day.  In the neighborhood where I grew up there was a small family dairy farm about every half mile.  I remember them well: Bill Miller, Allen Davis, Andrew Nelson, Griff Davis, Arlan Handrich, Joe Hudziak,

Charlie George, Bill Witt (my grandfather), Frank Kolka, Jesse DeWitt, and McKinley Jenks.

            On a chilly spring day, in 1965, my dad sold our small herd of registered Holsteins at an auction.   It was a sad day, for dad had worked since the 1920s to develop and improve his dairy herd.  Now he saw them, one after the other, sold.  That evening, when I walked with dad from the barn to house, he was crying.  I had never seen him cry before.

            My dad and mother lived on the home farm until 1973, when they had another auction.  This time the farm machinery, household goods, and feed were sold.  The auction bill also noted a category for “Antiques and Collectibles.” Most of these items the folks used every day; they were more than antiques to them.  A Farmall C tractor was on the list. Also, several horse- drawn machines—a dump rake, a two-row corn planter, a potato digger and a hay loader.  I knew each item, knew it well, knew the stories connected to it.

            It was a tough time, for me, for my brothers, and especially for my dad and mom.  Farming was so much more than making a living, it was a way of life.  The farm auction closed the door on a way of living—so important, but too often ignored.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Never forgot the importance of the small family farm to the history of this country.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

More Cookstove Memories Photo by Susan Apps Bodilly

 

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My recent article about the old woodburning cookstove triggered many memories of these old stoves beyond cooking meals and baking bread. During the long, cold winter months, readers remembered that those old stoves had multiple uses.  A couple readers commented that they knew of little pre-mature babies placed in a cookstove’s oven to keep them warm. This was a new and great story for me.

When we got electricity on the home farm in 1947, my mother decided that maybe she should look at one of those new, modern at time, combination woodburning and bottled gas ranges, similar to the one pictured above.  Now she could cook during the hot days of summer without starting the woodburning side of the stove, but cook on the bottled gas side.  In winter she used the wood burning side of the stove, as it not only did the cooking and baking but warmed the kitchen.

When my wife and I bought Roshara in 1966, the farm we own now, we discussed what kind of a cookstove we should buy.  We had electricity, but no indoor plumbing in the old granary that we were working hard to make livable.

I learned about a used combination wood and gas burning cookstove, the one pictured above.  It had been used for maybe 20 years. We bought it for $40.00.  My dad thought it was an enormous price to pay for a used cookstove. It took five of us to carry it into the cabin—one cast-iron heavy beast—but oh, such a good stove. It works as well today as it did 56 years ago.  It warms our kitchen, and cooks our meals.  It provides wonderful memories of when I was a kid, doing my home work by the old woodburning stove.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:  Like an old friend, our woodburning cookstove helps keep memories alive.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

Learning From Winter Jerry Apps photo

 

In 1956, I was in the army, stationed at Fort Eustis, Virginia, which is a few miles from Williamsburg.  I arrived there in January and the first thing I noticed was—they had no winter.  I saw a fellow washing his car.  Unheard of in Wisconsin in January.

            As strange as it may sound, I found myself missing winter.  I liked skiing and snow-shoeing.  I liked ice fishing.  I liked being outside on a snowy day, when big snowflakes were falling.  I missed the subtle sound as they fell.  I missed how beautiful the countryside was all dressed in white. I missed all of that in Fort Eustis, Virginia, while I wore an army uniform.

            Many years later I wrote a book titled THE QUIET SEASON: REMEMBERING COUNTRY WINTERS. PBS Wisconsin produced an hour-long documentary based on the book, titled FARM WINTER.  In the book and the TV show I talked  about winter, and its positive points.

            Here is a bit from the introduction to the book: “Over the years I have come to appreciate and even enjoy northern winters.  But I’ve also learned that there is more to winter than snow and ice and bitter cold.  Winter has shaped me in ways that go deeper than I am even aware.  Living through a real winter—a northern winter—affects how we think, influences what we believe is important, and causes us to relate to other people in a particular way.”

In the last chapter of the book I wrote, “Of all the seasons, winter is the most striking and most influential on the lives of the people who experience it. . . winter is more than cold and snow, frozen water pipes, slippery road, and dark and dreary days.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Think about it. There is much to be learned from a Wisconsin winter.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books, including THE QUIET SEASON, at your local bookstore, order online from 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 have a large selection of my books. 

 

 

 

 

Valentine's Day

 

       Jerry Apps Photo

            Valentine’s Day at the country school that I attended was special.  We were generally in the middle of a long, cold and snowy winter.  And we all needed a break.  The country school Valentine’s party was the break we needed.  It began around 2:00 p.m. on February 14 as I recall.  The mother’s were invited. They had to walk, of course, some of them more than a mile. We all walked to school in those days.

            A big box, decorated with red and white hearts stood on the teacher’s desk.  Each student had a valentine for every student.  And every student had a card for the teacher.  We couldn’t wait to see the valentines that we knew were in that box.

            The mothers brought cakes and cookies.  Our teacher made Kool-Aid.  We enjoyed the treats as we waited for the distribution of the valentines.  Usually an eight-grader had the honor of passing out the cards. The cards we received were similar to ones pictured here.  What we looked for is for some special hand-written notes on our cards, especially when we were in the upper grades and boys and girls began noticing each other.  It was a special day. It helped to shorten winter.  Once Valentine’s Day arrived, we knew that spring must be waiting just around the corner. 

            Valentine’s Day is named after St. Valentine and began being celebrated as a “day of romance” in about the 14^th century. Another story says that a fellow named Valentine was in jail, and had fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter.  He wrote a “Valentine” to her before he died. Supposedly, Pope Gelasius declared the day of his death as St. Valentine’s Day.  This was in the 5^thcentury.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Valentine’s Day—a day to take a break from winter. Remember your Valentine.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from 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 have a large selection of my books.