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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2016)
Polk County Living Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 16, 2016 9A Onions: Plant now for best bulbs Get onions in the ground in spring and avoid heart- break when it comes time to harvest big, beautiful bulbs this summer. Plant as soon as the soil is dry enough to work, said Jim Myers, a plant breeder at Oregon State University. March and April are prime times. Most onions grown in Oregon are long-day onions. They make top, green growth until a critical day length is reached, which triggers bulbing. That gener- ally begins at about 14 hours of light per day. If you plant onions in early spring, they’ll grow to fairly large plants by the time daylight reaches 14 hours. Large bulbs result. However, if you wait to plant until the end of April when days are already 14 hours long, bulbing will begin im- mediately and you’ll have small pearl onions. “The size of the bulb is dependent on the size of the plant when bulbing begins,” Myers said. “This is why early planting is critical if you want large onions, as well as plenty of water and fertilizer.” Buy onion sets while firm and dormant. Harvest early in the season to eat as green onions, or in late summer when they’ve formed bulbs. K YM P OKORNY PHOTO BY JUDY SCOTT Plant onions in March and April and keep the soil moist to ensure large bulbs for harvesting. plants 3 to 4 inches apart in rows 12- to 15-inches apart. Fertilize every two to three weeks until onions start to form bulbs and make sure to keep soil con- sistently moist. When tops begin to dry out and are falling over, stop watering so the bulbs ma- ture in dry soil. After about half the tops have fallen over, wait about a week and harvest the bulbs. Cure them for a week or so by spreading in the sun and covering with a sheet or tarp at night. Onion Varieties The OSU Extension Service recommends the following varieties as per- forming well in Oregon: • Yellow: Copra, New York Early, Candy • Overwintering: Walla Walla • Red: Red Wing • White: White Sweet Spanish, Superstar • Green bunching: Ishikura, He-shi-ko P ATTY T AYLOR D UTCHER Columnist cause they were Jews, and when GIs were returning home with brides from other countries. — The song begins: You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear; You’ve got to be taught from year to year; It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear; You’ve got to be carefully taught. — Another verse continues: You’ve got to be taught to be afraid of people whose eyes are oddly made, and people whose skin is a different shade. You’ve got to be care- fully taught. — As time passed, civil rights laws were enacted and segregated schools be- came a thing of the past. Those who belonged to hate groups were admonished and people who committed crimes against those of other races were prosecuted in a court of law, instead of everyone looking away. Children had the opportu- nity for a good education, and neighborhoods and clubs and organizations could no longer discrimi- nate against people because of their ethnic or religious background. — Our communities did just fine with a black teacher, or a Hispanic mayor or an Asian police chief – and the hate and fear mongers were wrong. We didn’t want to lis- ten to those ugly jokes and slurs. We prayed our chil- dren weren’t exposed to racial slurs or comments. As time has passed, some of us have children, grandchil- dren and great-grandchil- dren as well as extended family members who are members of all racial and re- ligious groups. — The song finishes with: You’ve got to be taught be- fore it’s too late. Before you are 6, or 7, or 8. To hate all the people your relatives hate. You’ve got to be care- fully taught. — I wish I could say that we’ve come a long way since those bad old days when students were banned from schools because of their color, or people couldn’t get a job because of their sexual orientation, or people be- lieved dreadful rumors a b o u t o t h e r re l i g i o n s. Maybe we’ll get there soon. PEDEE NEWS “Aunties” Lisa Bennett, Michelle Bennett and Michelle Mahana hosted a bridal shower for their niece Amanda Bennett at the Pedee Women’s Club on March 6. A brunch of vari- ous breads, fruit and quiche was served before Amanda opened her gifts. The family had a potluck after the shower. Amanda, grand- daughter of Pete and LaV- erne Bennett, was home from Sheppherd Air Force Base in Texas for a short visit. She will marry Jon Wilson Oct. 8 in Texas. — King’s Crossing Coffee Shop in the old Kings Valley church has two new ven- dors. Heidi Davis brought in her wonderful Oregon- themed and inspirational wood signs, and Will An- A RLENE K OVASH Columnist drews is selling hand-craft- ed cutting boards, bowls, and step stools. The Kings Valley Charter School sen- iors, who are running the shop, have also created a partnership with Shon- nard’s Nursery between Corvallis and Philomath, which has donated last year’s vegetable seeds and spring flowers for them to sell. Hey, they’re inexpen- sive, and they still work, so check them out. — I spent last week in Wi- You’re Invited Third Annual Survivor Dinner & Celebration hosted by Eola Hills Winery sponsored by Relay For Life of Polk County & Team Perrydale Saturday, April 2 at Eola Hills Wine Cellars 501 S. Pacific Highway 99W, Rickreall 5:30 ~ Doors open, Meet & Mingle 6:15 to 8:00 ~ Dinner & Entertainment Every survivor and guest will be guests of honor. Please join us for an evening of food, fun and festivities. To RSVP your name and the name of one guest, contact Vicki Bailey at 503-623-5241 or vickibaile@aol.com For planning purposes, RSVPs are encouraged by March 23, but are not required. chita, Kan., at American Agri-Women’s Mid-Year meeting, where we reviewed our positions on legislative issues, which we will pres- ent to our congressional delegates in Washington, D.C., in June. On Thursday we toured Cargill’s Innova- tion Center, where they de- velop and test meat and other food products to sell to retailers, food services, and convenience stores. They said they turn out 15 million hamburgers a day for their customers — hard to imagine. I was impressed with how they have re- sponded to the public’s con- cerns about safety and sus- tainability. — Dancing Oaks Nursery is now open for the season. Owner Fred Weisensee gave and in Sheridan for 32 years. Ray loves to chop wood and take care of the property, and Ivy loves to garden. They both love spending time with their family. Their family includes Ray Jr. and Arlene VanEpps, of Medford, and Charlotte and Brad Foster, of Dallas. The couple has three grandchildren. NEWS IN BRIEF Isham hopes to restore services by July MONMOUTH — Polk County Sherif Lt. Jef Isham said he hopes the oice will be restored to 24-hour patrols and have the Point team back in efect by July. That is if everything goes well, he noted. Isham spoke at the Monmouth-Independence Chamber of Commerce luncheon on March 9 and updated attendees on the status of the Polk County Sherif’s Oice, including how money from the levy passed in May 2014 has been spent. He said if all goes well with training and hiring, it would be possible to have patrols restored to 24 hours a day and to get Point, Polk County’s interagency drug enforcement team, back on track by around July. W. Salem man pleads guilty to coercion MI TOWN A little more than 60 years ago, a Rogers and Hammer- stein musical production opened on Broadway in New York City. “South Pacific” was based on stories from Pulitzer Prize winning writer, James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” and fea- tured stores about U.S. Navy Seabees, French plantation owners, and the local vil- lagers during World War II. — One of the songs in that musical was “Carefully Taught,” and it made an in- stant impression upon a lit- tle girl who was growing up in a time when people in the south were beginning to talk of civil rights for everyone, when Japanese people had lived in internment camps during the war because it was feared they would be enemies, when we heard about death camps where people were murdered be- VanEpps — 65th Ray and Ivy VanEpps, of Sheridan, will celebrate their 65th wedding anniver- sary with family and friends on Saturday at Orchard Heights Winery in Salem from 1 to 4 p.m. Ray VanEpps and Ivy Bleakney were married March 25, 1951, in Vancouver, Wash. Ray retired in 1995 from Diane Foods in McMin- nville as a warehouse driver. Ivy is a homemaker. The couple has lived in Polk County for 34 years Your Garden When purchasing trans- plants, look for plants that have not been damaged by decay or excess drying. After getting your onion sets home, sort into two groups by size — those smaller than a dime and those larger. Use the larger size for green onions. The smaller ones will produce large dry bulbs. Onions can be grown in almost any type of soil as long as it has good fertility and drainage. Before plant- ing, amend soil with com- post or aged manure. A handful of complete fertiliz- er, such as 10-10-10, applied along the row at planting time will get the plants off to a good start. A good com- post or organic fertilizer will also supply the needed nu- trients for onions. For green onions, plant the sets 1½ to 2 inches deep and 1 inch apart. They’ll be ready for eating in about a month when the tops reach 8- to 10-inches tall. For larg- er onions, plant the sets about ½-inch deep and 4 inches apart. Plant trans- ANNIVERSARIES me the tour last week and, surprisingly, they have sev- eral flowering plants in bloom now, including some beautiful hellebores. They are open Tuesday through Saturday or by appoint- ment. — Recently June Clark was rewarded for taking out a load of trash by seeing a rainbow on the way back to her house. It was a full arc from her barnyard to a hill just north of the house. No picture, she said — her stu- pid phone only makes calls. — A new recruit academy for Polk County Fire District No. 1 will be starting soon. Contact Deputy Chief Olson at 503-838-1510, ext. 307 to learn more about this excit- ing opportunity. DALLAS — Tayde Carranza-Pineda, 48, was sentenced in Polk County Circuit Court on Tuesday by Judge Monte Campbell to serve 90 months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of coercion and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon. Carran- za-Pineda, of West Salem, had been charged in an incident oc- curring on July 5, 2015, in which he threatened his wife with a irearm. The incident was investigated by the Salem Police De- partment. Two officers graduate from academy SALEM — Officers from the Dallas and Monmouth police departments will graduate Friday in the 355th Basic Police Class of the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. Oicer Blake Andreasen, with Monmouth, and Hannah Flam- ing, with Dallas, will be part of the graduating class. The 16-week class includes dozens of training areas includ- ing survival skills, irearms, emergency vehicle operations, ethics, cultural diversity, problem solving, community policing, elder abuse, drug recognition. Graduation will be at the Oregon Public Safety Academy at 4190 Aumsville Highway Southeast in Salem, on Friday at 11 a.m. Police Chief Mario Lattanzio, of the Albany Police Depart- ment, will be the guest speaker. Master Gardeners accept donations POLK COUNTY — The Polk County Master Gardeners are ac- cepting tax-deductible donations of items they can repair, re- furbish or re-purpose for their annual plant sale in May. The group is looking for metal or wood objects, old gates, bottles, vases, notable dishes, garden pottery, tea cups, pitchers or bowls, bird houses, bird feeders, or tools, patio furniture, plant stands, iron implements, and collectible antiques. Someone from the Master Gardeners will pick up items. For more information or to arrange a pick-up: Cindy Bethell, 503- 956-3377. COMMUNITY CALENDAR Continued from page 8A — MONDAY, MARCH 21 • Central Lions Club — Noon, Independence Elks Lodge 1950 Dining Room, 289 S. Main St., Independence. 503-606- 2150. • Willamette Valley New Horizons Orchestra — 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Central High School band room, 1530 Monmouth St., Independence. Local orchestra for beginning through interme- diate musicians. Meets every Monday. Players of all levels wel- come. $25 monthly fee to cover expenses. 503-838-4884. — TUESDAY, MARCH 22 • James2 Community Kitchen Meal — 4:30 to 6 p.m., St. Philip Catholic Church, 825 SW Mill St., Dallas. Free; everyone welcome. 503-623-8429. • Take Of Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) Club — 6 to 7 p.m. weigh-in, 7 to 8 p.m. meeting, First Christian Church basement, 1079 SE Jeferson St., Dallas. Meetings ofer programs and activ- ities aimed at losing weight. Open to anyone. First meeting is free. — WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23 • Helping Hands Emergency Food Bank — 10 a.m. to noon, Monmouth Christian Church, 959 Church St. W., Monmouth. For eligible community members; available every Wednesday. 541-404-6517. • Willamette Valley Food Assistance Program Food Bank — 1:30 to 6:30 p.m., 888 Monmouth Cutof Road, Building E, Dallas. Weekly distribution for eligible community members. 503-831-5634. • Painting, Canvas and Cocktails — 7 p.m., The Boondocks, 318 N. Main St. Fall City. All supplies, paint, canvas and instruc- tion provided. No experience necessary. $30, snack and cocktail included. 503-787-2700. • Brew and BS: The Old Testament — 7 p.m., St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 1486 SW Levens St., Dallas. A lecture series on the Old Testament. Bring brew of choice — cofee, tea, chai, beer, wine, cider. 435-503-4304. Look what’s coming up.... Medical Directory Deadline to reserve: March 24 Publish date: April 6 Call heidi, rachel or karen 503-623-2373 to reserve your space!
