Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 2017)
16 Wednesday, March 15, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon The Bunkhouse Chronicle Craig Rullman Columnist A loon for legumes This year I intend to gar- den — or farm, as I prefer to think of it — as if our lives depend on it. I’ve set a high bar for this summer’s haul: 500 pounds. I want to harvest 500 pounds of vegetables, eat them, pre- serve them, and give some of those pounds of food away to kith and kin. After several years of less than satisfactory results, I’ve come to believe that if we approach this growing sea- son with anything less than irrational passion, with any- thing short of religious fer- vor, we will once again fall well below potential. No more. Sitting here under the snowbanks— where we’ve all been col- lectively pressed together since November — and with plenty of time to think about it, I’ve decided to turn pro, to cast my amateur status, to become a kind of sunblasted gardening zealot, and get after the Super Bowl of harvests. That’s vanity, of course. Central Oregon, and my own spectacular acts of stupid- ity, have proven to be more than formidable adversaries. But waves of bugle-blow- ing golden mantles, Special Forces-tabbed rabbits, sud- den freezes in late June, onion maggots, bad soil, and the occasional and uncon- scionable streak of laziness, have strafed my delusions of grandeur long enough. The obvious question is: why am I doing this to myself? It’s not as if, looking forward to spring, we don’t have enough to do already. There is the colt I need to start. The mare who needs to be ridden every day. There is plenty of fencing that needs steady attention. We prob- ably need to paint the house and re-stain the barn. There is always the writing, and reading, shooting enough to stay proficient, and I’d love to get out kayaking and fishing and running in the woods. But I dream at night of vegetables. Crates of them. They haunt me. Luscious red tomatoes, green beans, snap-peas, onions bursting into beautiful bulbs beneath the soil. Squash and pota- toes. And spinach, of course, which is the one thing I’ve managed to grow with more than modest success. I’m not entirely certain I can articulate the reason for this passionate vegeta- ble lunacy. Certainly there isn’t just one. The obsession seems to eddy in a conflu- ence of various ideas rush- ing in from various points of the compass — always sub- ject to tweaking or simply rejecting after a test drive — about how we should be living on this planet. It has something to do with mak- ing more and using less, and shaping our decisions with a bias for action and a drive for increasing self-reliance. It is a cousin to the drive that informs my desire to hunt, and fish, and to har- vest with dignity the planet’s myriad gifts. And there’s this: It’s just fun. To be clear, I’m trying desperately to stay in the middle of the road on most things. But, if I’m being honest, I have to watch myself carefully. Thus far, we aren’t sandbagging a bunker or building a Faraday cage to protect ourselves from a rogue EMP bomb. Maybe we should be, but we aren’t. We have not yet laid in a three-year supply of freeze-dried rations for the big collapse of civilization. I do not go in for chemtrails, conspiracies whose only supporting evidence is the abject lack of evidence, or believe the NSA is listening to my phone calls. Above all, I adamantly reject the idea that politicians — any of them — are ever going to provide the finest solutions to our collective cultural frictions. Also, I’d like to believe this growing preoccupation or, rather, extreme convic- tion, isn’t the manifestation of a dreamy “back to the earth” fantasy I’ve acquired somewhere. It’s just this: a healthy crop of vegetables has come somehow to symbolize, for me at least, a kind of outrig- ger in the chop and froth of the daily news, a bulwark against physical dependency, and a spiritual hedge against the synthetic, the digital, and the ephemeral. Rick Bass once wrote of his own kind of activism in the Yaak Valley of Montana: “The older I get the more I realize that all of my goals have been possessed of the crime of moderation. Even the largest of my dreams and ambitions, I realize with increasing dismay, were puny, measly, compared to the object of my dreaming.” I’m guilty of that, too, and too often when — if I had only flexed out of the tendency toward modera- tion — I might have changed an outcome for the better. Maybe, to some extent, we are all guilty of it in various ways. And so this year, in a redoubled commitment to growing food — something that I still believe matters a great deal — I’m going to toss moderation. I’m going to become a maniac for melons, a loon for legumes. I’m going to farm our little plot like an angry, slightly deranged monk. I’m going to be completely unreason- able, shamelessly ambitious, and indulge the duplicitous luxury of thinking — if only for a minute — that our lives actually do depend on it. Peak Pump & Motor WELL PUMP SERVICE PRESSURE TANKS CONSTANT PRESSURE SYSTEMS FREQUENCY DRIVES MOTOR CONTROLS PUMPS Pump & Electrical Contractor 24-HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE Call Zach 541-420-8170 A Division of Sisters Owned CCB#178543 Whether you need help with a well pump that’s gone out or are looking to install the state-of-the- art in constant pressure systems, Peak Pump & Motor is local, responsive, professional and will get the job done right. They have pressure tanks on hand, and they sell parts at their shop in the Sisters Industrial Park, saving time and money for customers. Peak Pump & Motor is a Goulds Water Technology dealer, offering the state-of-the-art in product innovation and energy efficiency. Visit the showroom to see a demo model of a constant pressure system, designed for less wear and tear and maximum energy efficiency. From domestic wells to commercial operations, new technologies that can be monitored from a smart phone offer greener options that also save you money. Water is our most critical resource, and Peak Pump & Motor is here to make sure yours flows just the way it should. Village Interior s 382 E. Hood Ave., Sisters 541-549-6406 villageinteriorsdesign.com *Manufacturer’s mail-in rebate offer valid for qualifying purchases made 1/14/17–4/10/17 from participating dealers in the U.S. only. For certain rebate-eligible products, the purchase of multiple units of such product is required to receive a rebate. Rebate will be issued in the form of a prepaid reward card and mailed within 6 weeks of rebate claim receipt. Funds do not expire. Subject to applicable law, a $2.00 monthly fee will be assessed against card balance 6 months after card issuance and each month thereafter. Additional limitations may apply. Ask participating dealer for details and rebate form. ©2017 Hunter Douglas. All rights reserved. All trademarks used herein are the property of Hunter Douglas or their respective owners.17Q1CLSO There’s a reason why 80 percent of Village Interiors’ clients are returning customers; they understand trust, loyalty, and connection. Village Interiors has been a key part of the Sisters business community for over 20 years. They’ll share that business connection with the community at the Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce Mix-n-Mingle on Thursday, March 16. Specializing in a Northwest Contemporary Transitional feel, Village Interiors treats your home like their own. From finding just the right bedding for your bed to completely decorating a multi-mil- lion dollar home. They are committed to quality and giving you the best value for your hard-earned dollar. They’ll help you determine what you need, what you can afford, and put you on the right path. Seek out top quality at competitive prices. You don’t have to drive to Bend to get great prices and selection — it’s all right here in Sisters, at Village Interiors.