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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (May 19, 2016)
8 in other words may19 2016 Diggin’ in the Dirt: Managing Bambi By Chip Bubl Oregon State University Extension Service - Columbia County Information needed for new version of the Local Food Guide Our Extension office is gathering information for a new version of the local food guide. We need your help to locate farmers that are either selling food direct to consumers from the farm, farmers’ markets, and/or through a CSA. Food can be u-picked or already picked. We are also interested in anyone selling local meat, fish, or cheese. Finally, we would like to list people that raise transplants of vegetables that they sell directly to consumers at any of the venues listed above. You can call or email Jenny Rudolph (jenny.rudolph@oregonstate. edu) or myself (chip.bubl@oregonstsate. edu ) or call the office directly (503 397- 3462) with your information. Heat loving crops Oregon’s erratic spring weather, often with below freezing conditions one day, a downpour the next and 70 degrees the following day, may play havoc with warm season crop seed germination. As a result, Oregonians have great success growing tomatoes, eggplants and pepper plants started indoors or in a greenhouse, then transplanted into the garden when the soil has warmed to at least 60 degrees. But some warm season crops, including beans, cucumbers, squash, corn, and melons are more successfully grown if they are directly seeded into the soil. Here are tips to avoid germination failure in direct seeded, warm season crops: • Wait to plant warm weather crops until the soil reaches 70 degrees at the two- inch depth during the day. • Plant shallowly. Small seeded crops such as tomato and pepper should be planted no more than one-fourth to one- half inch deep when direct seeding. Larger seeded crops such as beans and corn seed should be covered with sand, vermiculite, fine peat moss or perlite instead of soil. • Buy short season varieties. • Warm the soil prior to planting and until seedlings emerge with a plastic mulch, cloche, Wall-o’-Water, spun fiber or fabric “floating” row cover or cold frame. After seedlings emerge, remove close fitting, non-breathing covers such as clear polyethylene to prevent cooking the seedlings. Floating row covers of spun-bonded fabric may be left on the seedlings if they are loose enough to allow the plants to grow, for up to six weeks after emergence. Watch for and remove weeds that may also emerge quickly with the crops. • For planting, prepare a well aerated soil, incorporating plenty of well decomposed organic matter. • Do not soak any type of seed to pre- sprout for more than four hours. In four hours most seeds will have become fully imbibed and the first chemical changes in germination will have begun. If you do pre-soak seeds, rinse them several times with tepid water, being careful to discard the soaking water which may contain seed treatment chemicals. Plant The public is invited to come honor those who have served, given their lives or are still missing Memorial Day Service Monday, May 30th 11:00 AM at Vernonia Memorial Cemetery 2080 Bridge Street the seed promptly after soaking. • Do not soak bean and corn seed at all, as they can be seriously damaged by soaking. From Dr. Bill Mansour, Extension Vegetable Specialist, emeritus Managing Bambi The tree or shrub or vegetable we plant will only thrive if Bambi or her brethren don’t covet it. So what are our options? First, you can plant trees and shrubs deer don’t like. The Sunset Garden book has a list or you can go to our web page (http://extension. oregonstate.edu/columbia/) and get a list there. There are few edible plants on that list but lots of nice ornamental species. Or you can fence deer out, usually the best solution. More on that next month. Repellents can be used only on plants not producing food in the season you use a repellent. The most effective products seem to be ones that have something rotten in them. Deer- Away™ has “putrescent egg solids” as the active ingredient, otherwise known as rotten eggs. Another product that has a good reputation currently (and did the best in a test in the Olympic Rain Forest on a forest replant site) is a product called Plantskydd™. While the ingredients are proprietary, they seem to be based on rotten things from Sweden formula (perhaps fermented blood meal). Less effective are mixtures that rely on garlic or hot pepper extracts. Mint oil repels east coast deer but there has been little testing here. There are a lot of new products on the market so this is still a work in progress. Repellents should be applied now and re-applied several times, especially after rain. A homemade deer repellent: Beat one egg with ½ cup milk (past its use by date and slightly smelly is better). Add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and one tablespoon of liquid dish detergent. Add mixture (using a sieve to remove any clumps) to a gallon of water and stir or shake well. Spray mixture on non-edible plants every one to two weeks. If you try it, let me know if it works for you. Food Safety or Food Preservation Questions? OSU Extension Service Has Answers. Are you planning to preserve food from your garden or purchased from a farm this summer? If so, call or visit the OSU Extension Service office before you start canning, freezing, or drying. Costly and potentially harmful mistakes can be made by using outdated canning recipes and instructions. You can find free publications at the Columbia County Extension office located at 505 N. Columbia River Highway in St. Helens (across from the Legacy Clinic). If you have questions, phone the office at (503) 397- 3462. You can download for free all our food preservation publications at http://extension. oregonstate.edu/fch/ f o o d - p r e s e r v a t i o n . An additional great resource is the National Center for Home Food Preservation at http:// www.uga.edu/nchfp/ . Take excess produce to the food bank, senior centers, or community meals programs. Cash donations to buy food are also greatly appreciated. The Extension Service offers its programs and materials equally to all people. Free newsletter The Oregon State University Extension office in Columbia County publishes a monthly newsletter on gardening and farming topics (called Country Living) written/edited by yours truly. All you need to do is ask for it and it will be mailed to you. Call (503) 397-3462 to be put on the list. Alternatively, you can sign up for email notification of when to find the latest edition on the web at http:// extension.oregonstate.edu/columbia/. Contact information for the Extension office Oregon State University Extension Service – Columbia County 505 N. Columbia River Highway (across from the Legacy clinic) St. Helens, OR 97051 503 397-3462 Email: chip.bubl@oregonstate.edu TOO BUSY? Call your LOCAL bookkeeper Master of Ceremonies Pastor Grant Williams Colors Presented By Aloha Post #104 Speaker Sally Harrison, Former Mayor City of Vernonia Music Vernonia High School Choir • Plan to arrive early! Limited seating available • For information, please call Vernonia City Hall 503-429-5291 Ceremonies Sponsored by: City of Vernonia This space courtesy of Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home Forest Grove and Vernonia R Y OLL A P PLUS LLC Edi Sheldon 503-429-1819 edisheldon@gmail.com Licensed tax consultant • Full service payroll Personal & small business bookkeeping • QuickBooks assistance CORPS, S-CORPS, LLC, Partnerships • Personal one-on-one service LTC #29629 - Oregon licensed tax consultant RTRP #P00448199 - designated as a registered tax return preparer by the Internal Revenue Service The IRS does not endorse any particular individual tax return preparer. For more information on tax return preparers, go to www.IRS.gov.
