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!