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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 11, 2019)
2A — THE OBSERVER FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2019 LOCAL Hunting buffer removed from lake WALLOWA COUNTY D AILY P LANNER TODAY Today is Friday, Oct. 11, the 284th day of 2019. There are 81 days left in the year. By Steve Tool and Ellen Morris Bishop EO Media Group TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT On Oct. 11, 1986, Presi- dent Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened two days of talks concerning arms control and human rights in Reykjavik, Iceland. ON THIS DATE In 1809, just over three years after the famous Lewis and Clark expedi- tion ended, Meriwether Lewis was found dead in a Tennessee inn, an apparent suicide; he was 35. In 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education ordered the city’s Asian students segregated in a purely “Oriental” school. (The order was later rescinded at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt, who promised to curb future Japanese immigration to the United States.) In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the fi rst former U.S. president to fl y in an airplane during a visit to St. Louis. In 1958, the lunar probe Pioneer 1 was launched; it failed to go as far out as planned, fell back to Earth, and burned up in the atmo- sphere. In 1983, the last full- fl edged hand-cranked tele- phone system in the United States went out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched over to direct-dial service. In 2001, in his fi rst prime- time news conference since taking offi ce, President George W. Bush said “it may take a year or two” to track down Osama bin Laden and his terrorist net- work in Afghanistan, but he asserted that after a fi ve-day aerial bombardment, “we’ve got them on the run.” In 2006, a single-engine plane carrying New York Yan- kees pitcher Cory Lidle and fl ight instructor Tyler Stanger crashed into a high-rise apartment building in New York City, killing both men. LOTTERY Megabucks: $3.8 million 2-12-13-20-22-30 Mega Millions: $60 million 5-8-10-17-48-23-x3 Powerball: $90 million 5-18-33-43-65-2-x2 Win for Life: Oct. 9 29-45-46-64 Pick 4: Oct. 10 • 1 p.m.: 4-4-8-7 • 4 p.m.: 5-9-9-5 • 7 p.m.: 1-7-3-8 • 10 p.m.: 0-1-2-1 Pick 4: Oct. 9 • 1 p.m.: 2-5-7-7 • 4 p.m.: 4-3-3-9 • 7 p.m.: 2-9-7-6 • 10 p.m.: 0-6-6-1 NEWSPAPER LATE? Every effort is made to de- liver your Observer in a timely manner. Occasionally condi- tions exist that make delivery more diffi cult. If you are not on a motor route, delivery should be before 5:30 p.m. If you do not receive your paper by 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, please call 541-963-3161 by 6 p.m. If your delivery is by motor carrier, delivery should be by 6 p.m. For calls after 6, please call 541-975- 1690, leave your name, address and phone number. Your paper will be delivered the next business day. QUOTE OF THE DAY “Modesty is the highest form of arrogance.” — German saying Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group Patrick Thiel shows off the variety of colors he gets in his organic carrots and beets Oct. 2, at the land he leases just west of Lostine. The plot is protected by a deer fence, without which he’d be unable to harvest a crop. Organic farmer in Joseph finds market in Portland By Bill Bradshaw EO Media Group JOSEPH — The life of a farmer isn’t easy and when you add organics into the mix, it becomes even more diffi cult. “Farming is tough,” said Patrick Thiel, who oper- ates Prairie Creek Farms on about 25 acres of leased land near Joseph and another few acres outside of Lostine. “There’s times the weather will wipe you out. There are times other things will wipe you out. There are times when it’ll turn out OK, but those are getting fewer and further in between.” Unlike many in the Wal- lowa Valley, who rely chiefl y on cattle, hay or small grains, Thiel has a wide variety of crops, including several varieties of potatoes, beets and carrots — all grown to organic specifi ca- tions. Not all chemicals are banned in organic farming, he said. Often, common, everyday, and non-toxic (to humans) substances can be used instead. For example, ordinary vinegar that can be used as an herbicide. For fertilizer, he uses kelp and molasses diluted in water. “The overall goal is to avoid sterilizing the soil or introducing substances that destroy the function of the soil,” Thiel said. It’s true that running an organic operation allows for more pests and weeds, Thiel said. However, if a weedkiller such as Roundup is used, “It makes it more profi table in the short term,” he said. “But in 10 to 50 years, you’ll have more dif- fi culty controlling pests and Bill Bradshaw/EO Media Group Organic farmer Patrick Thiel, center, discusses the ripe- ness and quality of his potato crop with his employees Jerry Sparks, left, and Jody Rowe after a freeze killed the vine tops Oct. 2, at Thiel’s potato farm near Joseph. weeds” because they become resistant to the chemical. Organic farming is “more labor intensive, but it’s more productive in the long run,” he said. “One thing that hap- pens when you introduce high levels of nitrogen is it reduces lot of the green foli- age, but the product is more watery,” Thiel said. “Because of the high nitrates, you don’t get as good a fl avor.” While organically grown produce remains more expensive than its commer- cial counterparts, the gap is narrowing. “The organic industry has been growing by an average of 20% a year for many years,” Thiel said. “The fi rst farms were small – a scale that can’t compare to a 5,000-acre (commercial) farm. In recent years, more of the larger farms have been converting to organic.” While his cost for produc- tion is higher, the market value of his produce is “roughly double,” he said, but that “depends on the market.” Thiel and his cus- tomers, all consider that his Prairie farms produce has much better fl avor that even many organic competitors. Thiel’s market is primar- ily high-end restaurants in the Portland area. What he doesn’t sell in Portland will be available at local farmers markets. Johnson Family Fruits He said he’s heard stories from his Portland customers of occasions when he’d run out of product and restau- rants would have to look elsewhere. “Diners would come back into the kitchen and say, ‘What happened to your potatoes? What happened to your carrots?’ ” Thiel said. Potato harvest had just gotten underway in a seri- ous fashion Oct. 2, when the weather dropped to 24 de- grees Fahrenheit and got a good start on killing the tops of the plants. The tubers still have to remain in the ground a couple of weeks to allow the skins to set, but Thiel is fi nding some he can harvest. “I’ve got a dozen variet- ies of potatoes and some of them are good to go and some need to mature up,” he said. “That’s all part of the reason for having a variety. It hedges your bets against all your weather patterns, your timing, your disease and pest issues and your climate getting too wet or too dry.” ENTERPRISE — A change to the state’s hunt- ing regulations has Wallowa County residents asking questions. In the 2019 Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife hunting regula- tions, a quarter-mile-wide no-hunting buffer around the perimeter of Wallowa Lake was removed. Residents and business owners have expressed concern that hunt- ing in this area of private residences would endanger human safety, and given the tame nature of the deer, was unsportsmanlike. Residents and business owners in the Wallowa Lake Village area expressed strong concerns about ODFW’s omis- sion of regulations that pro- hibited deer hunting in their residential neighborhoods. “The deer here are a tour- ist attraction, worth a lot to Wallowa County,” Susan Esvelt said. “They walk right up to people. These aren’t wild deer. This isn’t hunting. It isn’t sportsmanlike.” Beyond the deer, residents also worried about hunting in such a highly populated area. Jill Zundel, who worked at Wallowa Lake Lodge as a teenager, now spends sum- mer and early fall in the fam- ily’s longtime cabin along the Wallowa River, and worries about the safety of her and her dog. “I don’t think anyone should hunt these deer. They’re like pets,” she said. At the Scenic Meadows RV Park, where go-carts occupy the track during the summer, owner Greg Jarman said the area should remain a no- hunting zone. “The whole idea of hunting here is a little crazy,” he said. “ODFW should have left it as it was.” Jarman said he had not encountered any hunters, or heard any shots. “But there doesn’t seem to be as many deer here as there used to be,” he noted. Wallowa County commis- sioners can designate the area a no-hunting zone. FAMILY OWNED Pumpkin Patch Thousands of pumpkins to choose from! Highway 82 - 4 mi. North of Imbler (Follow Signs) Great family fun! 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