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Tuesday, June 9, 2020
The Observer & Baker City Herald
BOB’S
THOUGHTS
Growing Your Own Herbs
BOB BAUM
A career
covering
bad football
In these challenging times, fans have
been craving sports. Even bad sports
would do.
Which got me thinking about bad
football. Believe me, you’d be hard-
pressed to fi nd a sports writer in the
country who has seen more bad football
than I have.
It’s a mix of Ducks in the days before
they were good, Beavers during a
historic string of losing seasons and
the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, a league
laughingstock for decades.
I became the Oregon sports editor
for The Associated Press in 1976, at the
ripe old age of 24.
That fall, in Don Read’s fi nal season
as coach, the Ducks went 4-7. Oregon
State, in Craig Fertig’s fi rst season,
went 2-10. The teams tied for last in
the Pac-8 at 1-6.
And so it went from there.
See Bad Football/Page 3B
Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
Tarragon, a leafy green herb widely used in French cuisine, pairs especially well with chicken.
H OMEGROWN F LAVOR
■ Coronavirus pandemic has encouraged more people to start an herb garden
“They’re very easy to grow, because
they don’t need a lot of care or at-
PITTSBURGH — Every
tention or fertilizing,” says Peggy
cloud has a silver lining,
Trevanion, a Penn State Master
right?
Gardener and herb expert.
Even the coronavirus pan-
Because most herbs are fragrant,
demic, awful as it has been,
they’re mostly deer resistant, too, a
has had some good come out
defi nite plus for Western Pennsyl-
of it. With everyone forced
vania gardeners plagued by hungry
to spend more time together
four-legged interlopers.
under one roof, the family
Herbs tend to be “less fussy” than
dinner has become a thing
vegetables, and they’re also incred-
again.
ibly versatile in their uses. A cook’s
The virus has gotten more
best friend, these aromatic bits of
of us outdoors, too, dirtying
green brighten sauces, bring fresh
our hands in the soil. And
fl avor to soups, stews and stocks,
a gardening boom has been
and make meat and vegetables sing,
ushered in as people search
often in foreign languages. A sprinkle
for ways to occupy their time
of something green as a fi nishing
with kid-friendly and soul-
touch also makes food look pretty.
soothing activities.
They smell good on your porch,
Anxiety over food sup-
windowsill or garden. And a little can
plies and availability of fresh
go a long way.
vegetables this summer has
Some of the easiest herbs to start
led to a surge in searches for
in the garden from seed are cilantro
“growing vegetables,” accord-
and dill. Mint also is a wonder-
ing to Google Trends. People
ful herb, though its roots — called
are more interested than ever
runners — can be invasive if it’s not
in trying to cultivate herbs,
grown in a confi ned space. Trevanion
as well.
suggests planting it between the
Gretchen McKay/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
Both Pennsylvania-based
sidewalk and the house, or in a pot
A Mexican herb garden offers fresh seasonings at the ready.
Burpee Seeds, which has
sunken into the ground.
been helping people to garden
Mediterranean herbs such as basil,
for more than 140 years, and
parsley, sage, oregano and thyme are
Stokes Seeds in Canada had to temporarily farm’s six acres during the growing season.
great for picks for novices, especially since
suspend sales in spring because of the grow-
“It’s been pretty much crazy from mid-
they all do just as well in a pot as they will in
ing interest in gardening.
March on,” she says. She quickly capped the the ground — a defi nite plus for those who
There’s also been a heightened interest in CSA program at 16 people.
don’t have large yards or porches.
gardening workshops and volunteer oppor-
Thankfully, many seeds are back in stock
Growing conditions for each herb should
tunities, although most classes have been
now and plenty of potted plants are available be taken into consideration, too. Some herbs
canceled for the year, or at least until the
at local nurseries and in big box stores like
love sun and water while others can thrive
pandemic stay-at-home order is lifted.
Lowe’s and Home Depot.
in the shade. For instance, woody herbs like
Tara Rockacy, owner of Churchview Farm,
While some amateur gardeners might be
thyme, rosemary and sage are much more
an organic farm in Baldwin, says more Pitts- reluctant to plant a full-fl edged pandemic
draught tolerant than basil, chives and pars-
burghers than ever are interested in its CSA Victory Garden — gardens are hard work,
ley, which like plenty of water.
workshares and more-informal volunteer
taking time and effort — herb gardens are
See Flavor/Page 2B
programs, which allow people to work on the an easier sell.
By Gretchen McKay
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wild roose in bloom
BETWEEN
THE ROWS
WENDY SCHMIDT
Celebrating
the original
rose blooms
My grandmother’s rose is a species
of wild rose. All roses started out that
way before natural, then man-caused
hybrids or crosses between rose species
began to occur. Grandma’s rose is Rosa
pimpinellifolia, plena or White Burnet,
a wild rose from Scotland.
Quite a few wild roses live around
our towns. A yellow rose, Harrison’s
yellow, which often came west in wagon
trains (it’s called the wagon train rose,
and also the yellow rose of Texas and
Persian rose); and an orange rose, Aus-
trian copper, are two well-loved old wild
roses that often grow together.
See Roses/Page 3B
La Grande’s Liberty Theatre and its ghost signs history
By Ginny Mammen
In my last article I told about La Grande’s ghost
signs and the artists who painted them. Today I will
share with you the story of the Liberty Theatre and its
ghost signs.
Stephen A. Gardinier, born in New York in 1865,
traveled west to settle in La Grande in 1889. By 1890
this young entrepreneur was purchasing land in the
downtown area. In 1892 Stephen married a young
lady from Ohio named Madlin, brought her to Oregon
and together they were quite active in the La Grande
social and business scenes.
They established the Scenic Theatre, the fi rst the-
ater in town, in 1902. Over the next few years Stephen
and Madlin constructed several other buildings and
created new businesses. In 1910 he purchased the
land at 1010 Adams and built one of the fi nest vaude-
ville houses in the Northwest, the Orpheum Theatre,
with seating for 682. The Orpheum presented its fi nal
show on Feb. 11, 1911, but the following Monday the
theater opened under the new name, Arcade.
A major remodel in 1923 changed the Arcade into
the premier theater of La Grande and in 1929 the fi rst
“talkie,” “The Shop-worn Angel,” starring Gary Cooper,
was shown. Tickets were 50 cents for adults , 25 cents
for children and 75 cents for loges.
Around 1930 the name was changed to Liberty and
it continued operating until May of 1959, when it went
dark. The fi nal movies shown were a double feature of
“The Spider” and “The Brain Eaters.”
This building is one of two remaining dozen or so
theaters built in La Grande in the fi rst third of the
20th century.
See Liberty/Page 2B
Photo courtesy of Ginny Mammen
Ghost signs on the Liberty Theatre in downtown La Grande.