8
in other words
october19
2017
Diggin’ in the Dirt: Winterizing the Garden
By Chip Bubl
Oregon State University
Extension Service - Columbia County
Upcoming events of interest
Master Gardener™ class signups be-
ing taken
The OSU Extension office in Columbia
County will be offering the Master Gar-
dener™ training again this spring. The
classes will be held on Mondays from 9
am - 4 pm for about 10 weeks starting on
February 5, 2018. Cost of the program is
$95.00 which includes a large resource
book. Master Gardeners are responsible
for providing volunteer gardening edu-
cation to the community as partial pay-
back for the training. If interested in the
program, call the Extension office at
(503) 397-3462 for an information pack-
et. The online site to register should be
available by the end of October.
Fall Beekeeping meeting and Honey
Tasting: October 19, Thursday, 6:30-
8:30 pm, OSU Extension office in St.
Helens. Linda Zahl will talk about
bee management going into winter. We
would also like to encourage all bee-
keepers to bring a small amount of their
honey (1/2 cup or so) for tasting. We will
provide the spoons and small cups and
we will work to not make a sticky mess
and still learn something about the flavor
diversity of honey produced here. The
program is free and open to experienced
and novice beekeepers alike.
All About Fruit Show: The “All About
Fruit” show is an annual event of the
Home Orchard Society. This is a great
educational event with seminars, fruit
tasting and many other interesting dem-
onstrations. You can take that apple or
other fruit from your garden and find out
what it really is. The event will be held
on October 21-22 from 10 am - 4 pm
both days at the Clackamas County Fair-
grounds in Canby. $7 admission charge
for adults with $12 for a family. For
more information, go to the HOS web-
site at http://www.homeorchardsociety.
org/events/.
Fall Mushroom Show: Oregon Myco-
logical Society has an annual fall educa-
tional event where you can see numerous
species identified. The event will take
place Sunday, October 29 from 12-5 pm
at the Western Forestry Center (near the
zoo) in Portland. There is a small admis-
sion charge.
Keep Your Catch: The OSU Extension
Family & Community Health program
has publications and recipes for how to
safely preserve your catch. Find instruc-
tions on canning meat, game, or seafood
and how to safely make jerky on our
website: http://extension.oregonstate.
edu/fch/food-preservation. Remember
that low acid foods like meat and fish
must be processed in a pressure canner
to prevent botulism poisoning. We offer
FREE testing of pressure canner gauges
in our office. Call ahead to make an ap-
pointment to have your gauge tested for
accuracy. Happy and safe hunting and
fishing this fall!
4-H Adult Volunteer Leaders Needed:
The 4-H Youth Development Program
has clubs in all five major communi-
ties throughout Columbia County and
reaches over 500 youth. The range of
clubs are from the traditional Animal
and Poultry clubs to Entomology, Out-
door Science, Fiber Arts, Cake Deco-
rating and Science, Engineering and
Technology (SET) projects, and others.
Adult volunteers don’t necessarily need
a large breadth of knowledge on a sub-
ject. Often parents will volunteer and
work alongside of the youth as they both
learn about the project. The county is
fortunate to have experienced leaders
that are willing to assist and mentor new
volunteers.
If you are interested in becom-
ing a 4-H volunteer, contact the OSU
Extension Service. You can visit with
Kara (kara.orr@oregonstate.edu) or
Woody (woody.davis@oregonstate.edu)
for details about an area that you may
have knowledge or interest in. They are
willing to help you start the process and
find ways to get you involved in the Co-
lumbia County 4-H Youth Development
Program. Our number is (503) 397-
3462 and our office is at 505 N. Colum-
bia River Highway in St. Helens.
Winterizing the Garden
• Cover rose bushes with a sawdust
mulch above the graft union and up
several inches to protect the plant in the
event of very cold weather.
• Dig your dahlias if you still can and
put them in the coolest space you have
that will stay above freezing. Dust the
cut stems with sulfur and put in sawdust
or peat moss. Alternatively, mulch them
well and count on a mild winter. Many
of us lost our in-the-ground dahlias in
last year’s winter.
• Figure out how to protect your contain-
er plants when the weather turns cold.
Roots are not as hardy as tops. Plants
that are hardy to 0° F in the ground can
die at 15-20°F in containers. Best strat-
egy is to put them out of the direct wind
and when the weather turns really frigid,
wrap some insulation around the pot,
keep the soil moist, and consider throw-
ing a tarp or blanket over the top.
• It is not too late to plant bulbs! Our mild
winters allow bulbs to push out roots and
establish themselves far later than other
parts of the country. If you find that you
haven’t planted garlic, tulips, daffodils,
or snowdrops, don’t despair. Get to it.
You might even find some bulbs at dis-
count.
• Watch out for voles. Meadow mice,
more properly known as voles, cause
a lot of damage in the winter. As food
gets scarce and especially when there
is snow on the ground, they will turn to
young trees and shrubs for dinner. Their
nibbling can girdle your trees at the soil
line or remove the roots below ground.
Next spring, the trees leaf out but can’t
move water and they die. Reducing
damage starts with making the voles un-
comfortable. Cut the grass around trees
very short so that they fear owls, cats,
and hawks as they go in search of food.
Collapse mole tunnels for they provide
access. Finally, be careful in the use of
fabric and black plastic mulches- they
provide vole cover.
Many Extension publications avail-
able online
Jim Morrison, Jr.
General Contractor
CCB# 112057
Ph: (503) 429-0154
MorrisonRemodeling@hughes.net
Vernonia, OR 97064
• Licensed • Bonded • Insured
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 pro-
grams 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/colum-
bia/.
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
My Top 10 Reasons
for Driving Electrically
By Nick Galaday
1. Electric vehicles are good for the
local economy and good for your
Electric Cooperative.
When you drive on electricity your
hard-earned money doesn’t go to the oil
companies, oil-producing countries or
even out-of-town gas-stations. Instead,
you support your own local electric co-
operative. This is no small item! Your
electric cooperative earns its revenue
based on how much energy it sells.
When its members drive on electric-
ity instead of oil, the cooperative gets
their business. This increased volume
enables your co-op to more fully and ef-
ficiently use its existing system and thus
lower our rates.
2. Inexpensive to Operate
According to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, an average all-elec-
tric car requires $3.74 worth of electric-
ity to travel 100 miles. A comparable
conventional car costs $13.36. This is
based on assumptions of average na-
tional fuel and electricity costs.
• Kitchen & Bathroom Remodels • Finish Carpentry
• Ceramic Tile Work • Custom Home Construction 
• Additions • Commercial Tenant Improvements
Are you putting up salsa, saving seeds,
or thinking about planting grapes? OSU
has a large number of its publications
available for free download. Just go to
https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.
edu/. Click on publications and start ex-
ploring.
3. Better Driving Experience
Plug-in vehicles offer a quieter, smooth-
er and more responsive ride. An electric
motor provides full torque from a stand-
still and completely changes the experi-
ence of getting onto a fast-moving high-
way. That’s why they don’t even need a
transmission – no gears – just smoothly
go like the wind, and in silence… There
are other real plusses to driving electri-
cally; clean, no gas station visits or fre-
quent maintenance stops for tune-ups,
filters, belts or oil changes, even brakes
last much longer. And you start out ev-
ery morning with a “full tank,” having
“filled up” while you slept.
4. EV Prices Have Come Down Con-
siderably
Because of the economy of scale and
the federal $7,500 tax credit incentive,
as the volume of electric cars has in-
creased markedly in the last few years
the prices are now more comparable to
conventional gas burning cars. Con-
sidering the Federal tax incentive, one
can drive home a new Nissan Leaf for
under $20,000, and Tesla has started
production of the long awaited Model 3
which sells for just over $30,000. Fur-
thermore, there are ever more used EVs
available on the market.
5. Tax Credits Still Available
The federal government still allows
up to $7,500 as a tax credit on an EV
purchase. Oregon now offers a $2,500
incentive rebate good on both sales and
leases of new EVs. That’s a $10,000 to-
tal incentive for Oregon buyers!
Many EV buyers use the lease
option as a way to take advantage of
the federal $7,500 tax credit incentive if
their tax liability is not that large. Check
with your dealer. You can always buy it
out of lease later having gotten the ben-
efit of the federal incentive.
6. Less Maintenance/More Reliable
continued on page 17