Applegater
DIRTY FINGERNAILS AND ALL
The point being
BY SIOUX ROGERS
Gardening is a life long experiment
or is it the other way around: life is a long
garden. Well, who really cares? I just gar-
den…because.
This last season was yet another ex-
periment. Between my house and a small
landscaped piece of grass is a very large his-
torical water tower. Since the landscaping
in that area was basically not edible, I made
a unilateral decision to disassemble what I
could not literally digest. While my new
edible landscaping was not as fastidiously
coiffed as it was previously, it was function-
ally very delicious.
I was experimenting with tomatoes.
Some of them I planted in medium size
sewer pipes (standing on end) directly on
the concrete, some next to the large water
tower and then some were planted, well like
“normal,” whatever that means.
Planting in sewer pipes was the easi-
est of all. Any sewer pipe, approximately
18” tall and with at least an 8” diameter
will hold any size or type tomato. The im-
portance of excellent soil in the pipe and a
sunny location, even in the middle of your
driveway is the essence of success.
FYI, it was one of these “sewer to-
matoes” which would not stop growing. If
I had been a little more permissive, one of
the plants might have crawled in through
the window and jumped into my salad.
Think it was happy?
Despite the grandiose success
of this small edible yard, my esthetic
sense was quelled. Next year, the very
t-a-l-l tomatoes will be grown espalier style.
This means they will be trained to grow
horizontally instead of vertically. Moral
or bottom line is, rethink your “standard”
garden. There are no rules for design. If
it works and feels good to you, then it is
good and right.
So what else did I do this fall? Well I
had lots of “poopy” times (not supposed to
say the “s” word). The events you are about
to read are true as I speak and all happened
while “lower management was gone.”
One day I went either to let our
chickens out or put them away, doesn’t
really matter. They were ALL out of
their coop, meandering in the vegetable
yard. Fortunately, at this time of year,
little damage could be done. Better yet,
they are “corn” trained to, “Here chick,
chick, chick.” Well, if you call a success-
ful roundup an hour later “trained,” (I am
not sure if that applies to the chicks or the
chick), they were all successfully corralled
back in the coop.
To round out that lovely day of
exercise, I went out to my very large worm
bin, AKA a double industrial sink with
drain holes under each sink. This set up is
perfect: household garbage in, chicken lit-
ter in, buckets fill with some kind of dark
murky liquid (fertilizer) out and the big
wonderful worms magically appear. I know
you are all jealous with envy of this clever
set up. However, you must make sure the
bottom opening is open, or the sink does
not drain and the brown “fertilizer” is on the
inside sloshing around instead of draining
into the buckets. So there I was, peering
into the mucky SLUSH. Then, without any
The Applegate Valley Animal
Disaster Preparedness
Committee
necessary, not everyone will be able to do so.
It makes sense for small pets such
as dogs, cats and birds to be sheltered with
their owners as it is less stressful for all
involved. Therefore, we are working to
establish evacuation centers that will accept
people along with their pets. Local area
schools and churches are being identified
and agreements are being developed. Once
these agreements are in place these shelters
will become part of the plan.
For large animals, the challenges are
obviously different. It has been recognized
that planning has to be done on two levels
– both the neighborhood and the valley as
a whole. For large animals it is necessary to
identify owners, types of animals, and means
of transport. The committee feels this
process should be initially done at the local
neighborhood level. Once that is done the
identification of destinations for evacuated
animals can take place at the area level. We
need to identify fields and barns that would
be available and not threatened or affected
by the disaster. The largest current locations
for evacuation of large animals in Jackson
and Josephine Counties are the Jackson and
What’s next?
The 2002 Bisquit Fire by now is a
distant memory for those who lived in the
Applegate Valley at the time, and only a
name for the many who have moved here
since.
While memories fade and new folks
come to live in our beautiful valley, the
threats of wildfire are unceasing. We know
it’s a matter of time before we’re faced with
wildfire again (or other disaster such as an
earthquake or flood). By working together,
we can better prepare ourselves and our
community.
The Applegate Valley Animal Di-
saster Preparedness Committee has been
meeting for the past year developing a plan
for the evacuation and sheltering of animals
both small and large during a disaster. While
it is the responsibility of owners to make ar-
rangements in advance for their animals as
well as themselves in the event evacuation is
The point of this story being—
sometimes it takes a little
maneuvering to get through
the “s” word and know that
all that smells and looks icky
may not be.
glove long enough to reach my shoulder, I
plunged my arm in up to my elbow and
down to unplug the drain hole and swoosh,
the buckets filled. This brown stuff, a.k.a.
worm tea, is really fantastic fertilizer.
The point of this story being—some-
times it takes a little maneuvering to get
through the “s” word and know that all that
smells and looks icky may not be.
Two more “s” stories highlighting
the exceptionally good nature of our little
four-legged family members.
First story: my niece, Chloe the cat,
was close enough to my delicate nose when
I smelled a serious “mistake” emanating
from her hind quarters. I tried to rectify
this error with a damp paper towel, but to
no avail. Poor dear Chloe; I had to take
drastic measures. I grabbed her very tightly
by the scruff of her neck in my left hand
while at the same time, with the same left
hand, I had her tail pulled over her head up
to her mouth. She could not even meow,
let alone bite me. Then the “mistake” area
was scrubbed down with rose petal soap.
All this time, my niece, Chloe the cat, was
Sioux Rogers—And the beet goes on.
either trying to eat me, scream at me or just
trying to go with the flow and hum a cat
tune. I am suspicious of the first option.
When this fiasco was finished, she not only
smelled like a springtime rose blossom, she
actually came up to me, licked my face and
started purring. How is that for forgiveness?
Story number two. Our dear two-
and-a-half-year-old Border Collie, Barney
McGee, was running around the driveway
with a long stick stuck to his hindquarters.
It was obviously bothering him and he
could not seem to get it loose. “Upper
Management” here, went over to help.
O.M.G. I thought he was impaled and
with a very mushy dingle berry attached.
I could not remove the stick, lift him in
to the bathtub or even get him into the
house. This was serious and he thought he
was naughty so would not stand up. It was
burrrr, freezing cold outside. I ran inside
and, right, got the bar of rose petal soap,
I had to drag puppy and icy cold hose to
approximately the same location. We were
freezing. Fortunately, the large stick was
not stuck up his you-know-what and I had
my pruning sheers in my pocket for a quick
release of the stick. After several scrubs with
rose petal soap and a vigorous dog shake-
down, I had one more forgiving household
member smelling like springtime.
Autumn was fantastic and most
beautiful. Say “good night” to your garden,
until next spring, hunker down with a good
book, your four legged friends and give
thanks to all the wonders we really do have.
The longer I live the greater is my respect for
manure in all its forms.-
Elizabeth von Arnim
Sioux Rogers • 541-846-7736
mumearth@dishmail.net
Josephine County Fairgrounds. We also
have a possible site at Pacifica in Williams.
Our next step will be to organize
workshops in about a half dozen locations
around the Applegate Valley to discuss issues
and gather information. These workshops
will be held in conjunction with other
organizations and will also address general
wildfire safety issues. The workshops are
being planned for early 2011.
The committee hopes more vol-
unteers will come forward, whether they
have facilities appropriate for a sheltering
site, whether they are able to help evacuate
animals, or would like to participate in de-
veloping the plan. Our goal is to complete
an animal evacuation and sheltering plan
for the Applegate Valley within the next six
months – coincidentally, just in time for the
next fire season!
For more information please contact
Michele Brown-Riding • 541-846-1460
Michele@apbb.net or
Lin Bernhardt • 541-840-9903
linb@clearwire.net.
Winter 2011 5